Something is happening with the company behind the Pokemon Sword and Shield models — it seems that Creatures Inc. has been removed from the list of partners on the Game Freak website. We can’t exactly pinpoint when the Pokemon Sword and Shield developer was removed, but it’s a curiosity that has yet to be explained.
To understand why this is so strange, we need to go a bit into the details of how Pokemon works. Some of the more involved fans might know that Nintendo, Creatures Inc., and Game Freak all play a part in the production of Pokemon, but who actually owns it? The answer can be quite complicated and it varies by country, but the short of it is that the three companies more or less equally own the franchise.
Video Games Chronicle highlighted a report by the Japanese website Pokemon Matome which revealed the removal of the Pokemon Sword and Shield models maker. At some indeterminate point, Creatures Inc. was removed from the list of partners on the Game Freak website.
Compare the current about page for Game Freak with this web archive from November 18, 2019. Creatures Inc. is no longer listed, nor is Shogakukan Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd., a company that has produced some Pokemon anime series. Shogakkan Co., Ltd. — a producer of manga — is still listed as one of the partners on the current version of the website, along with Nintendo and the Pokemon company.
It should also be noted that the web archive link has the page “about.html” whereas the newer version is “about”, signaling some sort of change on the website beyond the simple removal of a few names.
While Creatures Inc. is definitely no longer listed, the reason why they are no longer listed (alongside Shogakukan Shueisha Productions Co., Ltd) is a bit of a mystery. Creatures Inc. is still putting up job postings for the Pokemon Trading Card Game on their website, indicating that they are likely still involved with the franchise. There’s not much else that can be said other than this whole situation seems just a little bit weird.
