Creatures Inc.

is a Japanese video game company affiliated with Game Freak and Nintendo, and is 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, Satoru Iwata, as a successor to Shigesato Itoi's company Ape Inc.

Alongside Game Freak and Nintendo, Creatures jointly owns The Pokémon Company. It is best known for developing the '' Pokémon Trading Card Game'' and designing ''Pokémon'' toys. Creatures operates the Pokémon CG Studio, which focuses on the 3D modelling and animation of Pokémon models in all ''Pokémon'' games. Creatures has also developed ''Pokémon'' spin-off titles and various non-''Pokémon'' titles. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, in proximity to Kudanshita Station.

History

1989–1995: Ape Inc.

Ape Inc. was founded in March 1989 with Shigesato Itoi as its chief executive officer (CEO). Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi 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's president, and Ashura Benimaru Itoh, a renowned illustrator. They began working on ''Mother'', which was released on 27 July 1989. Its music was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka, 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''. When development of this game began to falter, Satoru Iwata of HAL Laboratory 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. 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. In 2000, Hirokazu Tanaka, a.k.a. Hip Tanaka, a former Nintendo composer and sound designer, who joined Creatures in 1999, became President of the company as Ishihara went to become the President of The Pokémon Company in 2000, while still holding his CEO position in Creatures.

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, Chūō, Tokyo, and again to the 10th floor of the in Gobanchō in 2007. They moved into the 23rd floor of the building in Fujimi in 2017, and once again moved to the 9th floor the building located in Kudanminami in 2022.

Creatures has a division called Pokémon CG Studio that is dedicated solely to making Pokémon 3D models and animations. They only make the models and animations for the Pokémon themselves, as human characters are modeled and animated in-house at Game Freak. The studio as of 2017 had 22 full time 3DCG 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. In 2019, the division moved out from its office from the 3rd floor of the in Fujimi back to Creatures' main headquarters.

On 16 October 2020, Creatures announced the acquisition of Ambrella, 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.

In April 2023, Creatures announced that Tsunekazu Ishihara has stepped down at his position as CEO and executive director, and Hirokazu Tanaka has stepped down as president and executive director. Ishihara continues as the President of The Pokémon Company, and will continue to commit to the management of the company as a founder, while Tanaka will remain as Creative fellow. Yuji Kitano assume Creatures as CEO and President; meanwhile, Tomotaka Komura will step into the role of Executive vice president.

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
Nintendo
Nintendo toys
Pokémon