Business Summary
Video Games, and Much More
Created in 1996, the Pokémon video game series is a fun-filled role-playing game that lets players experience various elements of play, such as collection through catching and raising Pokémon, as well as communication through trading and battling with friends. The Pokémon game series has given rise to many spin off games as well, which we produce to ensure that these games are chock-full of what makes Pokémon so appealing.
Launched in October 1996, the Pokémon Trading Card Game is the first and oldest trading card game in Japan. Each card has its own effects, meaning players can enjoy building a deck of their choosing, then using that deck in a strategic battle against their opponent. Part of the fun of the card game is the communication unique to face-to-face encounters, such as the exchange of greetings and handshakes at the start and finish of a battle.
The animated TV series started in April 1997 and has high ratings even today, and the first theatrical film was released the following year in July 1998, with the release of a new movie now a staple of summer vacation.The first live-action Hollywood film, POKÉMON Detective Pikachu, was released in 2019. In addition, the Pokémon Company produces many other video works, including an information variety program and Pokémon Kids TV released on YouTube.We are involved from the planning stage of production of them, working in collaboration to develop games, merchandise, cross-promotions, and more.
Granting licenses to our business partners allows a variety of companies to release Pokémon merchandise. We inspect and approve concept and design through weekly meetings designed to control the quality of such merchandise. We have had hundreds of thousands of projects submitted. At the same time, we’re turning out new ideas all the time to draw out the maximum appeal of each and every Pokémon with our special Original Product Development team.
Like our merchandise sales, cross-promotions are a vital part of our licensing business. We provide the kind of cooperation only Pokémon can to licensees for promotions they wish to implement. Together, we plan and operate projects that make the licensee’s services even more appealing, creating not only games, animation, and merchandise, but also content that can be enjoyed by a broader audience through greater opportunity to interact with Pokémon in various settings.
From kids to grown-ups, people of all ages will smile! We host a variety of events to help make that moment happen. With interactive events featuring popular Pokémon such as Pikachu and full-fledged card game tournaments, these events provide a space for a broad spectrum of Pokémon fans to come together and experience something unprecedented, creating even more love for Pokémon.
The Pokémon Center, an official shop that recreates the Pokémon Center featured in the world of the game, currently operates both in Japan and abroad. Along with selling original merchandise, each shop runs campaigns uniquely crafted to each location and provides the latest Pokémon information. In addition to these shops, we’ve developed small Pokémon Stores in airports and tourist spots, as well as run the online shop Pokémon Center Online. Also, at popular Pokémon Café, we offer a menu that faithfully recreates the world of Pokémon.
International markets are crucial to developing Pokémon worldwide, and so the PokémonCompany manages the Pokémon brand globally with our affiliates the Pokémon Company International and Pokémon Korea, Inc. While linguistic and cultural backgrounds vary greatly among the countries of the world, Pokémon is meticulously localized to ensure its content suits each region, and strive to ensure that people all around the world can enjoy it at the same with such things as simultaneous worldwide release of new game software in nine different languages, based on the concept of“Think Globally, Act Locally”.
We’re developing a range of projects for apps aimed at smartphones and tablets. By using these apps to provide a slightly different kind of entertainment compared to video games, we’ve been able to reach those who we couldn’t approach in the past, conveying the appeal of Pokémon to a broader audience. Pokémon keeps a broad perspective and looks to the momentous evolution of information technology as we base our app development in imaginative ideas.
The Pokémon with You disaster relief project was created out of our desire to reassure children affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and help bring back smiles, and has continued since 2011 with endorsement from companies involved with Pokémon. In December 2012, the official shop Pokémon Center Tohoku was established in the city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. All proceeds go to the children of Tohoku through relief activities and subsidies for the cost of events.
Pokémon
in Figures
Video games
over 340 million units worldwide
(as of the end of March 2019)
Trading card game
over 27.2 billion cards worldwide
13
77 areas
(as of August 2019)
Animated TV shows
169 areas
(as of the end of March 2019)
Movies
80.08 million
¥85.51 billion
-
The above figures represent the accumulated total for the first (released 1998) through twentieth (released 2018) movies
(as of the end of December 2019)
Licensed products
About 600 companies
-
world wide
(as of the end of March 2019)
Pokémon Center
About 4,500 types
(as of the end of March 2019)