is a Japanese video game company affiliated with

Game Freak is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer of the mainline ''Pokémon'' series of role-playing video games published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. History Predating the video game company, ''Game Freak'' ...

Nintendo is a Japanese multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produced handmade playing cards ...

and

The Pokémon Company The Pokémon Company (株式会社ポケモン, '' Kabushiki gaisha Pokemon'') is a Japanese company responsible for brand management, production, publishing, marketing, and licensing of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, which consists of video ga ...

, and one of the owners of the Pokémon franchise. It was founded by Tsunekazu Ishihara in November 1995, with the assistance of then-president of

HAL Laboratory formerly shortened as HALKEN (derived from its native name), is a Japanese video game developer founded on 21 February 1980. While independent, it has been closely tied with Nintendo throughout its history, and is often referred to as a seco ...

Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contributor in broadening the app ...

, as a successor to

Shigesato Itoi is a Japanese copywriter, essayist, lyricist, game designer, and actor. Itoi is the editor-in-chief of his website and company '' Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun'' ("Almost Daily Itoi Newspaper"). He is best known outside Japan for his work on Nintendo ...

's company Ape Inc. It is best known for creating and working in the ''

Pokémon Trading Card Game The , abbreviated as ''PTCG'' or ''Pokémon TCG'', is a collectible card game developed by Creatures Inc. based on the ''Pokémon'' franchise. It was first published in October 1996 by Media Factory in Japan. In the US, it was first published ...

'' and designing ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of what each of thos ...

'' toys. In addition to that, Creatures Inc has a studio known as the Pokémon CG Studio. This studio focuses on the 3D modelling and animation of the Pokémon models in all Pokémon games; main series and spin-offs. Finally, in addition to that, they also develop their own Pokémon spin-off titles and various non-Pokémon titles. Its current president is Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka, who was previously known for producing and composing music for various other

games. The company has its headquarters in

Chiyoda, Tokyo is a special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English.Profile< ...

, in proximity to Ichigaya Station.

History

1989–1995: Ape Inc.

Ape Inc. was founded in March 1989 with

as its

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

(CEO). Nintendo president

Hiroshi Yamauchi was a Japanese businessman and the third president of Nintendo, joining the company in 1949 until stepping down on 24 May 2002, being subsequently succeeded by Satoru Iwata. During his 53-year tenure, Yamauchi transformed Nintendo from a hanafu ...

had wanted to support new talent in game design. Liking Itoi's work, he proposed the idea of the company to Itoi and invested in it. Ape's staff included Tsunekazu Ishihara, who later became the

Pokémon Company (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of what each of those c ...

's CEO, and Ashura Benimaru Itoh, a renowned illustrator. They began working on ''

Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ...

'', which was released on 27 July 1989. Its music was composed by

Hip Tanaka , also known as Chip Tanaka, is a Japanese musician, composer, sound designer, and executive who pioneered chiptune music. He is best known as one of Nintendo's in-house composers during the 8- and 16-bit era of video games. Tanaka also had a rol ...

, who later became the second CEO of Creatures. The team went on to develop ''Mother 2'', which would be known in the Western world as ''

EarthBound ''EarthBound'', released in Japan as is a role-playing video game developed by Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The second entry in the ''Mother'' series, it was first releas ...

''. When development of this game began to falter,

was brought in to help the project. The game was released in Japan on 27 August 1994. Ape's game development activities ceased in 1995. Ape also produced a line of official guidebooks for Nintendo, in co-operation with Nintendo and

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...

. They began with ''Encyclopedia Mother'' in October 1989, and ended with ''Nintendo Official Guidebook—Pocket Monsters: Red, Green, Blue (Complete Compatibility, Revised Edition)'' on 10 January 1997. Shogakukan assumed Ape's role and continues to produce Nintendo Official Guidebooks in their stead.

1995–present: Creatures Inc.

Creatures Inc. was established on 8 November 1995, with Tsunekazu Ishihara as CEO, and consisting of former staff from Ape. At one point, Creatures had its headquarters on the 7th floor of the in Sudachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo. They later moved to the fifth floor annex of the in

Nihonbashi is a business district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan which grew up around the bridge of the same name which has linked two sides of the Nihonbashi River at this site since the 17th century. The first wooden bridge was completed in 1603. The curre ...

, Chūō, Tokyo. Pokémon CG Studio is a division of Creatures that is dedicated solely to making Pokémon 3D models and animations. They only make the models and animations for the pokemon themselves, as human characters are modeled and animated in-house at Game Freak. The studio as of 2017 had 22 full time 3DGC artists, however according to studio director Atsuko Ujiya they wanted to double it in the following years. She states that during its peak workload they have around 100 employees (including temporary contractors) to work on the creation of models and animations. On 16 October 2020, Creatures announced the acquisition of

Ambrella was a Japanese video game development company that worked under a publishing agreement with Nintendo. They were best known for making spin-off games for the ''Pokémon'' video game franchise, particularly the '' Pokémon Rumble'' series. Ambr ...

, the developer of a number of ''Pokémon'' spin-off games. Creatures acquired all property rights of Ambrella, and Ambrella disbanded, with its employees becoming part of Creatures.

Games

Ape/Creatures has developed or has contributed to the development of the following games.

Ape

Creatures

Canceled

Footnotes

References

External links

Official website
Japanese
Official website
English {{Authority control Japanese companies established in 1995 Toy companies established in 1995 Toy companies of Japan Video game companies established in 1995 Video game companies of Japan Video game development companies