Creatures Inc., one of the partial owners of the Pokémon franchise alongside Game Freak and Nintendo, has undertaken a significant change in leadership, as spotted by Serebii webmaster Joe Merrick.
Tsunekazu Ishihara and Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka have stepped down as CEO and President of Creatures Inc. respectively, with Yuji Kitano stepping in as CEO / President and Tomotaka Komura as Executive Vice President. The newly appointed posts are also highlighted on the official Creatures Inc. website.
While the change will likely have no material impact on the day-to-day operation of Creatures Inc. or its contribution to the Pokémon franchise, the shake-up is certainly an interesting one. At the time of writing, Tsunekazu Ishihara remains President and CEO of The Pokémon Company, however, his departure from his post at Creatures Inc. does raise some questions as to his immediate future with The Pokémon Company. Many fans will likely recognise Ishihara as the host of major Pokémon Presents showcases.
We currently have no reason to believe that anything further will change in the foreseeable future, as this recent shake-up will have likely coincided with the new 2024 fiscal year in Japan.
As for Hirokazu Tanaka, it’s unclear at this time what role, if any, he has with Creatures or The Pokémon Company following his departure from his role as President. His previous work outside Creatures Inc. focused primarily on creating soundtracks for classic games like Metroid, EarthBound, and Kid Icarus. He joined Creatures Inc. full-time in 1999 and became its President in 2001. He also began to perform at Japanese dance clubs under the name ‘Chip Tanaka’ at this time.
What do you make of this change up over at Creatures Inc.? Let us know your thoughts with a comment down below.
