Junichi Masuda, former CEO of Game Freak and one of the founding members of the company, has resigned from the positionto accept a new position as The Pokémon Company’s Chief Creative Fellow.
Masuda played a crucial role in the creation and development of the Pokemon Franchise. A programmer from the start Pokemon Red/Blue (and indeed the 1996 Japanese pocket monster)he became the director of the mainline series of Pokemon Ruby and sapphire to Pokemon X & Y. In addition to these roles, he frequently created the music for the series and was directly involved in the naming and design of many monsters.
The developer worked on every mainline game in some way and was even the person for whom the base game concept document was written Pokemon GO.
In 2018, Masuda made it clear he was ready to step down from directing Pokemon title, told the official Pokemon Side? site the Let’s go Pikachuand Let’s go, EeveeHe would be at the top for the last time. He wanted “the younger generation” at Game Freak to have a chance with the series.
Four years later, he officially left the studio, but not the franchise. Adopting the glorious title The Pokemon Company Chief Creative Fellow (which sounds like it should be a rank above the Top Ideas Chap), where it looks like his role will be to continue his innovative approach to pocket monsters.
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“I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all Pokémon fans,” Masuda said in a statement. “I hope to push the boundaries of video games by trying to bring greater surprise, fun and excitement to people around the world. As I do my best to connect people, expand the circle of ‘play’ and to help create a richer world for us to share.”
