Game Freak, the studio best-known for Pokémon, is partnering with Private Division in what appears to be its first major foray into the AAA action-adventure space.Private Division announced that it is working with Game Freak on Project Bloom, an “ambitious” new action-adventure game. In a statement, Game Freak director Kota Furushima said that fans can expect something very different from its usual monster collecting fare.Project Bloom is a brand-new collaboration betwen Game Freak and Private Division. Image source: Private Division.”We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to create new IP that is bold and tonally different from our prior work,” Furushima said. “From the beginning, Private Division was the publisher we wanted to work with on our new game. Their track record and global expertise give us all the confidence to create a sweeping new action-adventure game that we can’t wait to share more about in the future.”Private Division head Michael Worosz added that the publisher is “honored” to be the first western publisher to be working with Game Freak.Along with the announcement, Game Freak and Private Division included the new project’s first piece of concept art, which features a samurai standing in a forest grove. The evocative image, in which the samurai is dwarfed by massive, gnarled trees, suggests that the new game will feature a greater scope than of Game Freak’s projects to date. Game Freak reveals its next original game While Game Freak is popularly associated with Nintendo, it remains an independent studio that has produced games for various platforms over the years. They include Little Town Hero, Tembo the Badass Elephant, and Pocket Card Jockey, all of which have been released for platforms outside of the Nintendo Switch.In a previous interview with IGN, Game Freak General Manager of Development Department 1 Masafumi Saito talked about the studio’s desire to work with “all sorts of creators both inside Japan or elsewhere in the world.””The departments in charge of developing original games aren’t limited by scale or platforms,” Saito said at the time. “The most important thing is to create new games that will attract users. We are working on various small and large projects regardless of the platform. Game Freak came about out of our experiences of independently creating home video games, so we want to preserve the approach of personally wanting to try to create something new and unique.”The technical struggles of games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have led some to wonder whether Game Freak, with roughly 150 employees, has the bandwidth to pursue ambitious projects like Project Bloom. Saito responded by reaffirming the studio’s commitment to new challenges.”Even if resources are tight, we won’t stop working on original games,” Saito said. “As a company we have to take on new challenges, and as creators we certainly want to make new fun things.”Little is known about Project Bloom, including its platforms. It is confirmed to be “early” in development and is expected to launch sometime between April 2025 and March 2026. Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
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