By way of the Pokémon Presents edition just before this year's big anniversary, the long-awaited remakes of the fourth-generation main series games were announced and set for release later this year. Interestingly, these games are also being developed by a company other than Game Freak, meaning that the games are "outsourced", so to speak. I and a friend discussed this outsourcing phenomenon for Pokémon games, in this case the main series games, and what it means for Pokémon and its dazzling array of games; much of the results of that discussion are summarized in this post, along with a few extra thoughts of my own.
Outsourcing the development of Pokémon games is nothing new, of course. The spinoff games are regularly outsourced, with the most famous example being Pokémon Go (which has Niantic as its developer) as the most popular and massive of these spinoff games. It becomes obvious that although Game Freak is the originator of all things Pokémon, they can't do everything - Pokémon is a certain and true priority, but so is stepping out once in a while to try to do other things. And in fact, they have done so occasionally while still working on Pokémon games, which may have affected their work on Pokémon despite being an effort of self-development.
Meanwhile, it seems that development time may be tightening. Those who read my blog might recall my discussion of "industry pressure" with a song from a music group that too was affected by such. That discussion continues to apply, with the implication that reduced time means greater pressure, and "outsourcing" becomes a viable solution for alleviating that pressure. Being that Pokémon is a lot bigger than it was when it started out, it means that the demand is massive (perhaps the driving force behind the "Sinnoh furor"), and that means more pressure; like it or not, Game Freak has to "outsource", and now the case is true for the next main series remakes.
Outsourcing also means that they can focus on the creativity to do something more with Pokémon, like the "open-world proposal" that is Pokémon Legends: Arceus, also part of the "Presents" from the other day. It's been the case that some people regard the ways of the main series games - especially prior to the seventh and eighth generation - as becoming "boring" to put it lightly, and something radical as Legends might turn the tables and pave the success path of Pokémon in the times to come. It can also help them make a more complete game, as in not something that contains seemingly unfinished parts, as the original Sun and Moon seemed to have.
Nowadays, Pokémon is a remarkable thing, and its originators Game Freak have to be just as remarkable in the ways of handling development of this media-mastering franchise. With the "outsourcing" of the fourth-generation remakes, the demands of the masses of fans can be satiated, at least temporarily, while they come up with new concepts such as Legends to satiate further the demands of the masses. Both of these will take time - hopefully time that is unpressured - but at the least Game Freak may have already found a way to "buy time" for Pokémon fans to have a grander time.
One year ago: Cosplay: Robotto no Sekai + SUCOFEST 2020
Two years ago: The Marketing of Expectations
Three years ago: How Many to a Raid?
Four years ago: To Be Continued... maimai ORANGE (PLUS)
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