# Creatures Inc.

Creatures Inc. is a Japanese video game company affiliated with Game Freak and Nintendo, and is one of the owners of the Pokémon franchise. It was founded by Tsunekazu Ishihara in November 1995, with the assistance of then-president of HAL Laboratory, Satoru Iwata, as a successor to Shigesato Itoi's company Ape Inc.
Alongside Game Freak and Nintendo, Creatures jointly owns The Pokémon Company. It is best known for developing the Pokémon Trading Card Game and designing Pokémon toys. Creatures operates the Pokémon CG Studio, which focuses on the 3D modelling and animation of Pokémon models in all Pokémon games. Creatures has also developed Pokémon spin-off titles and various non-Pokémon titles. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, in proximity to Ichigaya Station.

## History
### 1989–1995: Ape Inc.

Ape Inc. was founded in March 1989 with Shigesato Itoi as its chief executive officer (CEO). Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi had wanted to support new talent in game design. Liking Itoi's work, he proposed the idea of the company to Itoi and invested in it. Ape's staff included Tsunekazu Ishihara, who later became The Pokémon Company's president, and Ashura Benimaru Itoh, a renowned illustrator. They began working on Mother, which was released on 27 July 1989. Its music was composed by Hirokazu Tanaka, who later became the second CEO of Creatures. The team went on to develop Mother 2, which would be known in the Western world as EarthBound. When development of this game began to falter, Satoru Iwata of HAL Laboratory was brought in to help the project. The game was released in Japan on 27 August 1994. Ape's game development activities ceased in 1995. Ape also produced a line of official guidebooks for Nintendo, in co-operation with Nintendo and Shogakukan. They began with Encyclopedia Mother in October 1989, and ended with Nintendo Official Guidebook—Pocket Monsters: Red, Green, Blue (Complete Compatibility, Revised Edition) on 10 January 1997. Shogakukan assumed Ape's role and continues to produce Nintendo Official Guidebooks in their stead.

### 1995–present: Creatures Inc.

Creatures Inc. was established on 8 November 1995, with Tsunekazu Ishihara as CEO, and consisting of former staff from Ape. In 2000, Hirokazu Tanaka, a.k.a. Hip Tanaka, a former Nintendo composer and sound designer, who joined Creatures in 1999, became President of the company as Ishihara went to become the President of The Pokémon Company in 2000, while still holding his CEO position in Creatures.
At one point, Creatures had its headquarters on the 7th floor of the Nintendo Kanda Building (任天堂神田ビル, Nintendō Kanda Biru) in Sudachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo. They later moved to the fifth floor annex of the Kawasakiteitoku Building (川崎定徳ビル, kawasakiteitoku Biru) in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo.
Creatures has a division called Pokémon CG Studio that is dedicated solely to making Pokémon 3D models and animations. They only make the models and animations for the Pokémon themselves, as human characters are modeled and animated in-house at Game Freak. The studio as of 2017 had 22 full time 3DGC artists, however according to studio director Atsuko Ujiya they wanted to double it in the following years. She states that during its peak workload they have around 100 employees (including temporary contractors) to work on the creation of models and animations.
On 16 October 2020, Creatures announced the acquisition of Ambrella, the developer of a number of Pokémon spin-off games. Creatures acquired all property rights of Ambrella, and Ambrella disbanded, with its employees becoming part of Creatures.
In April 2023, Creatures announced that Tsunekazu Ishihara has stepped down at his position as CEO and executive director, and Hirokazu Tanaka has stepped down as president and executive director. Ishihara continues as the President of The Pokémon Company, and will continue to commit to the management of the company as a founder, while Tanaka will remain as Creative fellow. Yuji Kitano assume Creatures as CEO and President; meanwhile, Tomotaka Komura will step into the role of Executive vice president.

## Games

Ape/Creatures has developed or has contributed to the development of the following games.
* = developer
* = co-developer
* = assistant developer

### Ape

| Year | Title | Platform | Developer | Role | Notes |
| 1989 | Mother | NES | Nintendo Tokyo R&D Products | Co-developer | Initially Japan only. Re-released worldwide in 2015 as EarthBound Beginnings. |
| 1993 | Monopoly | SNES | CreamSoft | Co-developer | Japan only. |
| 1993 | Sanrio World Smash Ball! | SNES | Tomcat System | Co-developer | Japan only. |
| 1994 | EarthBound | SNES | HAL Laboratory | Co-developer | Released as Mother 2 in Japan. |
| 1995 | Mario's Picross | Game Boy | Jupiter | Co-developer | |
| 1995 | Tamori's Picross | SNES | Jupiter | Co-developer | Series of small games distributed over the Satellaview network, coinciding with a radio show by Japanese celebrity Tamori. Japan only. |
| 1995 | The Monopoly Game 2 | SNES | Tomcat System | Co-developer | Japan only. |
| 1995 | Mario's Super Picross | SNES | Jupiter | Co-developer | Japan only. |
| 2003 | Mother 1+2 | Game Boy Advance | Pax Softnica, HAL Laboratory | Porting | Compilation cartridge of Mother and Mother 2. Japan only. |

### Creatures

| Year | Title | Platform | Developer | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Picross 2 | Game Boy | Jupiter | Co-developer | Japan only. |
| 1997 | Mini Yonku GB: Let's & Go!! | Game Boy | Jupiter | Co-developer | Based on mini yonku racing and a related manga and anime. Published by ASCII Corporation. Japan only. |
| 1998 | Game Boy Camera | Game Boy | Nintendo R&D1, Game Freak, Jupiter | Software co-development. | |
| 1998 | Pocket Monsters Stadium (Japanese version) | Nintendo 64 | Nintendo EAD | Pokémon modeling. | Japan only. |
| 1998 | Hey You, Pikachu! | Nintendo 64 | Ambrella | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 1998 | Pokémon Trading Card Game | Game Boy Color | Hudson | Planning, game design, card design. | |
| 1999 | Super Smash Bros. | Nintendo 64 | HAL Laboratory | Pokémon modeling, opening design. | |
| 1999 | Pokémon Snap | Nintendo 64 | HAL Laboratory | Part of 2D illustrations, Pokémon modeling. | |
| 1999 | Pokémon Stadium (international version) | Nintendo 64 | Nintendo EAD | Part of 2D illustrations, Pokémon modeling. | Upgraded version of the original Pokémon Stadium. Released in Japan as Pokémon Stadium 2. |
| 2000 | Pokémon Stadium 2 | Nintendo 64 | Nintendo EAD | Pokémon modeling. | Released in Japan as Pokémon Stadium Gold Silver. |
| 2001 | Chee-Chai Alien | Game Boy Color | Creatures | Developer | Japan only. |
| 2001 | Pokémon Card GB2: GR-dan Sanjo! | Game Boy Color | Hudson | Planning, game design, card design. | Japan only. Subtitle is often translated as Here Comes Team GR!, and sometimes as The Invasion of Team GR! |
| 2001 | Super Smash Bros. Melee | GameCube | HAL Laboratory | Character, stage, and figure modeling. Opening movie design. | |
| 2003 | Pokémon Colosseum | GameCube | Genius Sonority | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2005 | Nonono Puzzle Chailien | Game Boy Advance | Nintendo | Co-developer | Japan only. Chailien is sometimes spelled Chairian. |
| 2005 | Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness | GameCube | Genius Sonority | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2006 | Pokémon Ranger | Nintendo DS | HAL Laboratory | Assistant developer. | |
| 2006 | Project Hacker: Kakusei | Nintendo DS | Red Entertainment | Assistant developer. | Japan only. |
| 2006 | Pokémon Battle Revolution | Wii | Genius Sonority | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2007 | Pokémon Battrio | Arcade | Tomy, AQ Interactive | Pokémon modeling, cabinet design. | Arcade cabinet. Japan only. |
| 2008 | Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia | Nintendo DS | Creatures | Developer | |
| 2008 | Personal Trainer: Walking | Nintendo DS | Nintendo NSD, Engines | Software co-development. | |
| 2009 | PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure | Wii | Creatures | Developer | |
| 2010 | Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs | Nintendo DS | Creatures | Developer | |
| 2011 | Pokémon Card Game: How to Play DS | Nintendo DS | Zener Works | Co-developer | Instructional game on how to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game, included with a deck kit called the Beginning Set. Japan only. |
| 2011 | Pokédex 3D | Nintendo 3DS | Creatures | Developer | Free app. Discontinued after October 1, 2012. |
| 2011 | PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond | Wii | Creatures | Developer | |
| 2012 | Pokémon Dream Radar | Nintendo 3DS | Game Freak | Co-developer | |
| 2012 | Pokédex 3D Pro | Nintendo 3DS | Creatures | Developer | Upgraded version of Pokédex 3D. Paid app, unlike its precursor. |
| 2012 | Pokédex for iOS | iOS | Creatures | Developer | Discontinued on November 30, 2015. |
| 2013 | Pokémon X and Y | Nintendo 3DS | Game Freak | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2014 | Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire | Nintendo 3DS | Game Freak | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2015 | Pokkén Tournament | Arcade, Wii U | Bandai Namco Studios | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2016 | Great Detective Pikachu: Birth of a New Duo | Nintendo 3DS | Creatures | Developer | |
| 2016 | Pokémon Duel | iOS, Android | Heroz | Pokémon modeling. | Discontinued on October 31, 2019. |
| 2016 | Pokémon Go | iOS, iPadOS, Android | Niantic | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2016 | Pokémon Sun and Moon | Nintendo 3DS | Game Freak | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2017 | Pokkén Tournament DX | Nintendo Switch | Bandai Namco Studios | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2018 | Detective Pikachu | Nintendo 3DS | Creatures | Developer | |
| 2018 | Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! | Nintendo Switch | Game Freak | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2019 | Pokémon Sword and Shield | Nintendo Switch | Game Freak | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2022 | Pokémon Legends: Arceus | Nintendo Switch | Game Freak | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2022 | Pokémon Scarlet and Violet | Nintendo Switch | Game Freak | Pokémon modeling. | |
| 2023 | Detective Pikachu Returns | Nintendo Switch | Creatures | Developer | |
| 2024 | Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket | iOS, Android | DeNA | Co-developer |

### Canceled

| 2000 | Mother 3: The End of the Pig King | Nintendo 64 | HAL Laboratory | Character modeling. | Canceled in 2000. Restarted development without the participation of Creatures as the GBA game Mother 3. |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Japanese: 株式会社クリーチャーズ, Hepburn: Kabushiki-gaisha Kurīchāzu