Steven Stone
Pokémon is a Japanese role-playing video game series developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and the Pokémon Company under the Pokémon franchise. It was created by Satoshi Tajiri with assistance from Ken Sugimori. The first games, Pocket Monsters Red and Green, were released in 1996 in Japan for the Game Boy, later released outside of Japan as Pokémon Red Version and Blue Version. The main series of RPGs, known officially as the "core series", has continued on each generation of Nintendo's handhelds. The most recently released core series game, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, was released on October 16, 2025, for the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Switch 2.
In addition to Game Freak's development, Creatures provides support through their Pokémon CG Studio, which creates 3D models for the Pokémon in the games, and also develops some spin-off titles. In 1998, Nintendo, Creatures, and Game Freak jointly established the Pokémon Company, which manages licensing, production, publishing, marketing and deals for the franchise both within Asia and worldwide through the Pokémon Company International.
The core games are released in generations, each with different Pokémon, storylines, and characters. Remakes of the games are usually released around a decade after the original versions for the latest console at the time. While the main series consists of RPGs developed by Game Freak, many spin-off games based on the series have been developed by various companies, encompassing other genres such as action role-playing, puzzle, fighting, and digital pet games.
By November 2017, more than 300 million Pokémon games had been sold worldwide on handheld and home consoles, across 76 titles, including spin-offs. As of March 2026, the series has sold over 515 million units worldwide. This makes Pokémon the fourth best-selling video game franchise, behind the Mario franchise, Call of Duty, and Tetris.
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