The development team behind Pokémon Sleep, Select Button, is handing over management responsibilities to the recently founded Pokémon Works. Dive deeper into the details of this significant shift in development.
Pokemon Sleep Development Shifts to New Pokemon Subsidiary
From SELECT BUTTON to Pokemon Works
In an exciting move within the Pokémon universe, The Pokemon Company launched Pokémon Works in March of this year, igniting speculation about their upcoming ventures. Fast forward eight months, and it's confirmed: Pokémon Works is set to take the reins of Pokémon Sleep's development and future updates from the mobile game developer SELECT BUTTON.
"Until now, the development and operation of Pokémon Sleep has been managed by two companies, SELECT BUTTON Co. Ltd. and The Pokemon Company, Ltd.," the developers shared through an in-app announcement, translated via machine translation. "However, we are now embarking on a gradual transition of Pokémon Sleep's development and operations from SELECT BUTTON to Pokémon Works."
This pivotal announcement was made through a general notice on the Japanese version of the Pokémon Sleep app. As of now, it's uncertain how this shift will affect the global version of the game, as the news isn't yet reflected in the app's News section.
Pokémon Works remains somewhat of a mystery, with little known about their current projects. However, a welcome message from Representative Director Takuya Iwasaki on their website sheds some light on their origins, describing the company as "a development team born from two companies, The Pokémon Company and Iruka Co., Ltd."
Furthermore, Pokémon Works shares office space in Shinjuku, Tokyo with ILCA, the studio behind the 2021 Pokémon remakes, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and a co-developer of Pokémon HOME. Iwasaki's greeting also credits Pokémon Works with contributing to the development of Pokémon HOME.
While their involvement in Pokémon projects has been limited so far, Pokémon Works is committed to "creating an experience that makes Pokémon more real... so that everyone can enjoy meeting and adventuring with Pokémon." It will be fascinating to see how this vision unfolds within the realm of Pokémon Sleep.
