Pokémon studio teaming up with GTA publisher for next game

Pokémon studio Game Freak is partnering up with Private Division to develop a brand new AAA game that has nothing to do with Pokémon.

Game Freak, primarily known for its work with Nintendo on the Pokémon franchise, will be working alongside publisher Private Division, part of Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two. Private Division are well-known for publishing titles like The Outer Worlds and Hades. The pair will be creating an unknown game, currently known as Project Bloom.

Game Freak director, Kota Furushima, spoke about the upcoming project, stating: "We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to create a new IP that is bold and tonally different from our prior work.

“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."

Bold and different certainly sounds interesting, and we’ll admit the concept art looks intriguing to say the least. The revealed art shows a samurai, surrounded by a tall and warped forest, implying it’ll include vast and open environments to explore and presumably fight in. It’s a far cry from Game Freak’s usual style of battling colourful pocket monsters.

Head of Private Division, Michael Worosz, added to the announcement, saying that the publisher is “honoured” to have been chosen by Game Freak to publish the game. Private Division will actually be the first Western publisher the Japanese studio has worked with, marking a monumental accolade for both companies.

Pokémon fans needn’t worry either, as it’s more than likely the developer will continue to work on new games and remakes for the franchise, which currently revolves around Pokémon Scarlet and Violet on the Nintendo Switch, which is currently awaiting upcoming DLC packs.

There’s still an awful lot we don’t know about Project Bloom, though we’ll certainly learn more over the next few months. It’ll be interesting to see just how much of a departure from the Pokémon series this new Game Freak title will be.