After spending much of its career developingPokemongames, Game Freak is currently crafting a brand-new IP. Private Division and Game Freak are collaborating on an action-adventure title currently known asProject Bloomthat will come out sometime in the future. While this is not the studio’s first non-Pokemongame, it will be the first major one in a while. Not much is known about it just yet, but hopefully it is worth the wait.
New IPs are often exciting, butProject Bloommay be facing an uphill battle with Game Freak’s fanbase. No matter how good the game is, some fans may not even give it a chance simply because it is notPokemon. The studio has built its entire brand around that franchise, and venturing away from that is a risky endeavor. While it is too early to decide if it is worth it or not, some fans may have already delivered their verdict.
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Game Freak’s New IP May Not Be What Fans Want
Game Freak has been the main developer ofPokemontitles since the beginning. A year has not gone by without a newPokemongame, and sometimes there were multiple releases. It has not only been in charge of the main series, but it has alsodeveloped numerous spin-offs includingPokemon Legends: Arceus,Pokemon Quest, andPokemon Let’s Go, Pikachu!as well. The studio and franchise are inseparable, and much of its fanbase is solely dedicated to that relationship.
There does not seem to be as much loyalty towards Game Freak as there is towardsthePokemonseries. The fanbase has been extremely critical of Game Freak’s handling of the IP in recent years, but the games have still been massive successes. In comparison, most of Game Freak’s non-Pokemongames are seldom talked about and often forgotten. Most of them received mixed reviews, were not massive commercial hits, and were released with little fanfare. It seems likePokemonis the main driving force behind the company, and that makes this new title very risky.
Game Freak has not shared much aboutProject Bloom, but it has confirmed that the game will not be aPokemontitle. It will be a brand-new action-adventure IP that will bring players to a whole new setting. The concept art shows off an overgrown forest with a person standing in the middle of it. It looks darker and mysterious, but also beautiful. Not much else is known, and a release date has yet to be announced, but there is a strong possibility it serves asa major title for Nintendo’s next console.
Project Bloomcould be excellent, but it will always suffer from fan expectations. Game Freak’s fanbase wantsPokemongames, and the other non-Pokemongames fell flat because of that. This putsProject Bloomin a very difficult position that may be impossible to climb out of. It not only needs to show that Game Freak is capable of successfully doing something outside thePokemonfranchise, but it also needs to win over that fanbase, and that is a lot easier said than done.
ThePokemonfanbase has been calling for all sorts ofunique spin-offs likePokemon Legendsfor a while now, but the announcement ofProject Bloomlikely means those titles are a ways off. While variousPokemongames are probably in development alongside this new IP, Game Freak may be primarily focused on crafting this brand-new experience. Even if it is not what fans wanted, it is what the studio is making, and that could easily put it at odds with its own fanbase. Players will just have to wait and see if the studio can deliver, but it may already be a losing battle.
