Right now, Game Freak has many different games in development. Pokemon obviously remains first and foremost among its efforts, with Pokemon Legends: Z-A due out later in 2025 and Pokemon’s tenth generation expected in the next year or two. There could also be other projects that The Pokemon Company is handling that need input from some Game Freak veterans. However, Xbox’s 2025 Summer Games Showcase just threw Beast of Reincarnation into the pile, and it does not look like standard Game Freak fare. Opting for a realistic art style, Beast of Reincarnation will likely turn out unlike any title the studio has been associated with.
First revealed in 2023 under the code name Project Bloom, Beast of Reincarnation is an action-RPG set in post-apocalyptic Japan. Players take control of Emma the Sealer and her loyal dog Koo as the duo navigate a strange landscape where barren wastelands can suddenly erupt into vibrant, but dangerous, forests. What exactly Beast of Reincarnation will play like is still unknown, but the game has already touted difficult combat and drawn some comparisons to the Souls-adjacent Black Myth: Wukong. It’s a strange premise to be attached to Game Freak’s name, but that may be due to how little it interacts with the studio’s regular work.
1:41
Related
Pokemon Developer Game Freak’s New Game is Coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2026
Game Freak, reknowned developer of the Pokemon series, reveals a brand new upcoming action RPG for Xbox Game Pass in 2026.
Beast of Reincarnation Isn’t Exactly Being Handled By Game Freak
Ostensibly, Beast of Reincarnation is developed by Game Freak and published by a new company called Fictions, replacing the Take-Two label Private Division that was supposed to handle Project Bloom. It’s directed by Kota Furushima, a Game Freak employee who has taken various planning and management roles on mainline Pokemon titles since Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. The only other person confirmed to be on the project is the Pokemon card illustrator Kazuma Koda, who provided the teaser concept art back when this game was still Project Bloom.
If it feels like something is missing here, that’s because it’s not exactly Game Freak who is working on Beast of Reincarnation. Rather, it’s the company’s Gear Project initiative that is handling this game, which represents a fraction of Game Freak’s workforce. Founded in the early 2010’s, Gear Project served as an incubator for new game ideas when staff weren’t wholly occupied by work on Pokemon. This initiative is responsible for all of Game Freak’s modern non-Pokemon titles, consisting of:
- HarmoKnight
- Pocket Card Jockey
- Tembo the Badass Elephant
- Giga Wrecker
- Giga Wrecker Alt.
- Little Town Hero
- Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On!
- Pandoland
- Beast of Reincarnation
Game Freak May Not Have Devoted Many Resources To Beast of Reincarnation
Even if most of the Gear Project titles were published by companies other than Game Freak, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company, the initiative has led to a lot of games, and it might be difficult for Game Freak’s roughly 200 employees to develop them alongside its mostly-consistent Pokemon releases. It shouldn’t be too large of a shock, then, that Game Freak had help with making these titles. Being tied to one of the most popular gaming franchises, Game Freak has many industry connections that it already pulls on to get modern Pokemon titles made, so tapping other developers to build smaller Gear Project titles makes sense.
Gear Project Uses External Help To Avoid Interrupting Pokemon
The split between Game Freak employees and other groups involved in Gear Project games is often only found in a given title’s credits, but it’s always there. For instance, Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! was co-developed by some Game Freak staff in leadership roles and the studios Infiniteloop Co. and Pixyda. The Gear Project initiative’s tendency to enlist developers outside Game Freak is why Beast of Reincarnation likely hasn’t dragged any essential staff off of the next Pokemon generation, though it would be fun to see the two acknowledge one another.
- Date Founded
-
April 26, 1989
- Headquarters
-
Tokyo, Japan
- CEO
-
Satoshi Tajiri
- Services
-
Pokémon Home