In what may be the most surprising news I’ve read in a few months, Game Freak is working on a triple-A samurai game in collaboration with Private Division. Yes, that Game Freak. The ones who did Pokemon and that other Pokemon. Private Division has a more varied roster, publishing games as disparate as The Outer Worlds, Hades, and OlliOlli World.

So, like, what’s going on? The poster for Project Bloom is moody and evocative. A lone samurai walks through a forest of twisting trees. It’s enough to stir a reaction deep within, enough for me to keep my eyes out for updates on the game, but doesn’t Game Freak have a Pokemon game to work on? There were rumours of a Mystery Dungeon remake this year, I still want Legends: Celebi, and Gen 10 must be in some stage of pre-production, so which developers have found the time to work on a triple-A samurai game?

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Firstly, Mystery Dungeon is made by Spike Chunsoft, not Game Freak. Secondly, give up on your dreams, Ben. Thirdly, Game Freak is a big studio, and likely has different teams working on all sorts of different parts of Pokemon, maybe even on different Pokemon games, and now there are some working on Project Bloom too. This is a part of Gear Project (so many projects), an initiative at Game Freak which allows devs to pitch their own ideas to management. Gear Project is responsible for Game Freak’s non-Pokemon games: HarmoKnight, Pocket Card Jockey, Tembo the Badass Elephant, Giga Wrecker, and Little Town Hero (no, me neither). The most notable thing about these games, other than the fact that they’re not Pokemon, is that they released on a variety of consoles including Xbox and PC.

Art and Gameplay from Tembo the Badass Elephant
This is Tembo the Badass Elephant, apparently

Project Bloom is the latest in a long line of non-Pokemon games from Game Freak, which is clearly trying to expand its portfolio away from Nintendo. However, it’s probably the biggest departure from its trademark style yet – most of these games have anime or cartoonish art styles not dissimilar to Pokemon, whereas Project Bloom looks like a full-blown realism-focused triple-A. This departure is enough for fans to take serious notice, and the announcement has fans wondering whether Pokemon will be affected by the stress of working on such a radically different game.

Programmer and director Masayuki Onoue explained exactly how things at Game Freak work to VGC back in 2019. Game Freak has two teams working simultaneously; Team 1 works on fresh IP, and Team 2 on Pokemon. Onoue says that this shows the company is “prioritising Gear Project” over Pokemon, and that the developer is “always trying to create something that is equally exciting, or more exciting than Pokémon.” Does this mean that Pokemon is suffering because of Game Freak’s side projects? Or the series is suffering because it is the side project, despite the brand recognition and practically guaranteed sales? Onoue doesn’t think so.

In-game photo of Artazon

He explained that devs taking time away from Pokemon allows them to return refreshed. Not only have they had a chance to try different roles in the development process (he had the opportunity to direct on Giga Wrecker), they learn new skills and experience fresh perspectives that they can bring to the iconic series. Working on Giga Impact “opened my eyes to the other aspects of game creation,” Onoue told VGC, and helped him to “become more creative”.

The sharing of ideas between teams can only be a good thing for Pokemon, as developers have a space to try new things without the pressure of Nintendo’s favourite child on their shoulders. I’m not saying the next Pokemon game will have samurai and creepy forests, but it may well take some notes from whatever it is Project Bloom will be. Developers having wider experiences, trying different roles, and generally taking time to be creatively refreshed will make for better Pokemon games as their creators feel appreciated and reinvigorated.

In the Project Bloom announcement, Game Freak director Kota Furushima says Project Bloom will be “bold and tonally different” to Game Freak’s previous work. Most of us had figured that out already, but the more different it is to Pokemon, the better. We’ve got a long time to wait, with it aiming for a 2025 or 2026 release, but Bloom devs bringing their varied experiences to Gen 13 when it starts development in 2027 will make Pokemon more interesting and innovative. Either that, or they’ll be told they’ve had their fun so get back to recycling the Sword & Shield Pikachu animations and cutting your favourite Pokemon from the ‘dex.

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