Pokémon’s no doubt been at the forefront of everybody’s minds this week as we finally got our first proper glimpse at Pokémon Legends: Z-A ahead of its launch later this year.
As part of the wider Pokémon Day celebrations, the BBC recently caught up with The Pokémon Company’s CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, to discuss the franchise and its future. Crucially, Ishihara reckons that Pokémon has the potential to reach its 100th anniversary, so long as the company maintains focus on its mission.
“If we continue focusing on our mission, Pokémon can probably continue to its 50th or 100th anniversary. But if we become complacent and go with the flow, that’s when Pokémon will go downhill.”
We’ve no doubt that Pokémon has the potential to achieve this, but we also wouldn’t be surprised if there are those who believe the company has already gotten somewhat complacent. Scarlet and Violet specifically were widely criticised for their poor visuals and awful performance, but with sales still breaking records, one has to wonder just how much these aspects really matter.
So what is The Pokémon Company’s mission? Well, according to Ishihara, it’s “connecting the real and virtual worlds”. Quite broad, we’re sure you’ll agree, but it certainly fits what Pokémon has been doing for the past three decades. With the new title Pokémon Champions looking to bridge the gap between Switch users and mobile users, this will no doubt further the company’s goals into the foreseeable future.
Let’s just hope Pokémon Showdown doesn’t get nuked, though!