Confirming the suspicions of many fans, earlier this week Game Freak, developer of Pokémon, has revealed that it is hiring for a Switch game.
In the eyes of many fans was never a matter of if a Pokémon title will appear on Nintendo’s shiny new machine, it was just a matter of when.
The Game Freak job adverts in question were for a ‘3D CG designer’ and a ‘character model creator‘ for a currently undisclosed project. The advert details that applicants are to be capable of creating models of comparable quality of those seen on PlayStation Vita and Wii U.
Furthermore, the listing also specified the experience of “producing monster models” and “deformed characters” as a must. Notably, the positions’ contracts run until May 2018 — perhaps teasing at a possible tentative release date for the unrevealed title.
At this point, we’re just waiting to see if whatever they’re working on come to light. Speculation is that the title will be yet another spin-off of the popular franchise — supported by the fact that at least one Pokémon spin-off title has appeared on the home consoles each generation. As per usual, there has always been chatter of Pokémon seeing a full RPG experience on a home console but I wouldn’t hold your breath just yet.
The Pokémon Company’s CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara, had confirmed his interest in the new Nintendo hardware in an interview with Toyokeizai Online which fans soon translated via NeoGAF. The CEO noted the parallels between the Switch’s portable capability and Pokémon’s lifelong home on handhelds.
In terms of the console itself, Ishihara stated that he and the company are looking to make games that “make sense for the hardware. However, I am not in a position to announce anything specific.” He also touched on how the system obviously has “bigger screen and higher specs than we’re used to.”
Pokémon and consoles have had a pretty muddled history riddled with titles of inconsistent quality. However, whenever the beloved franchise gets an announcement off their comfortable handheld home you can be sure fans will be watching.
