There is drama going on in the world of Pokémon. And no, I am not talking about the games. Joe Merrick, the owner of Pokémon site Serebii, has noted (via VGC) that both CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara and Vice President Hirokazu Tanaka have stepped down from their roles at Creatures Inc.
Here’s Joe tweeting the news:
Oh wow
Tsunekazu Ishihara and Hirokazu Tanaka have stepped down as CEO/President of Creatures Inc.
The new President & CEO is Yuji Kitano, with Tomotaka Komura as Executive Vice President pic.twitter.com/et3cREFD04
— Joe Merrick (@JoeMerrick) April 5, 2023
Prior to stepping down, Ishihara served as CEO / president at Creatures Inc. and frequently appeared in Pokémon Presents, and he was a producer on the original Pokémon Red and Blue. Tanaka was executive vice president at Creatures, and prior to that he was a composer of many NES games. Yuji Kitano and Tomotaka Komura have replaced their roles, respectively.
As far as what Creatures Inc.’s roles have been in recent Pokémon titles, they create models for the Pocket Monsters and were behind the development of Detective Pikachu and apparently its long-awaited upcoming sequel.
What does this restructuring mean for the games themselves? It is tough to gauge. Ishihara is still the CEO / president of The Pokémon Company, after all. (The Pokémon Company is jointly owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures.) But if he leaves that role and is replaced, things might get interesting. Regardless, the new blood at Creatures Inc. may start shaking things up. It would be great to have the series continue to innovate like Pokémon Legends: Arceus and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, but those were ultimately Game Freak titles. Whatever is made, just don’t rush them out to market like last time.
