PokemondeveloperGame Freakhas announced a new partnership with publisher Private Division to bring a new, non-PokemonIP to the market. The project currently titled “Project Bloom” is an action-adventure game, and from the concept art shown, it appears to feature a lone samurai in a large, misty forest. While this isn’t the first timeGame Freakhas ventured outside thePokemonsphere, the announcement of this new project could spell trouble forPokemonfans hoping to see new spin-off titles, remakes, or more ambitious games likePokemon Legends: Arceusin the near future.
Thanks to Game Freak’s Gear Project initiative, internal teams can pitch ideas for new games and develop them for self-publishing or for publishing with a third-party company. This is how games likeHarmoKnight,Pocket Card Jockey, andLittle Town Herocame to be, and it’s likely thatProject Bloomis a result of this initiative as well. Partnering with Private Division gives the game the support of the publisher of games likeThe Outer Worlds,Kerbal Space Program, andOlliOlli World, but even with publishing support, Project Bloom could mean Game Freak is scaling back its futurePokemonplans.
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Game Freak’s New IP Could Mean Some Pokemon Games Take a Backseat
Game Freak has received some criticism from fans after the shortcomings of the last fewPokemongenerations highlighted the problems with the company’s yearly release schedule. The developer has two known teams dedicated to working on the series which allows them to maintain the pace of an annual release for the franchise. However, thetechnical performance ofPokemon Scarlet and Violetand limited national dex controversy fromPokemon Sword and Shieldhave many believing the studio is in need of a larger production force to tackle the needs of the franchise.
With a portion of the studio now being devoted to the development ofProject Bloom, the resources being dedicated to thePokemonfranchise will likely be reduced. This makes it probable that Game Freak will need to either scale back the scope of its ongoingPokemon-related projects or outsource some of them, such as remakes or spin-off titles, to other studios. The recent Gen 4 remakesPokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearlwere the first mainline games to be developed by a studio other than Game Freak, with ILCA helming the project, however these entries were met with general disappointment from fans.
Fans hoping thatPokemonGen 5 remakesare on the horizon may be disappointed as the games will likely be pushed until afterProject Bloomreleases in its projected 2026 fiscal year launch window, or will be developed by an outside studio like ILCA with the potential for mixed results. ReleasingPokemon Legends: Arceusas well asPokemon Scarlet and Violetin the same year was a massive feat for Game Freak, but it’s unlikely to be repeated now that this new IP is in development. The studio will want to prioritizePokemonGen 10, making it unlikely that anotherLegends: Arceus-style game will be coming anytime soon.
The track record for games coming out of Game Freak’s Gear Project has been inconsistent with titles likeHarmoKnightandPocket Card Jockeyreceiving generally favorable reviews, whileLittle Town Heroreceived poor scores. Without substantial info onProject Bloom, it will be hard to judge where it will fall critically, but having a Western publisher like Private Division on the project sets a drastically different tone for the game. Though a new IP could be a nice change of pace forGame Freak, it shouldn’t come at the cost ofunique newPokemontitles.
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