Pokemon developer Game Freak appears to be looking to add more members to its team.
As announced on Twitter – translated via VGC – the new positions will involve working on the Pokemon series. A recruitment seminar will be held to find 23 new employees across design, art, and programming. It is looking for people "who can face the challenge of developing titles that are played not only in Japan but around the world."
As of December 2019, the Japanese developer employs around 143 individuals. Once the new positions have been filled, it will give the company a total of 166 staff members, a 16 per cent increase upon its current number.
Catch em all
The past year has proven to be successful for Game Freak, in November 2019 Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield were launched worldwide. Within three days, 1.3 million copies were sold in Japan. Furthermore, Sword and Shield shifted over six million copies – physical and digital combined – before the end of November, making it the fastest-selling title for Nintendo Switch.
On top of this, before the end of its release month, the games had surpassed the sales of Pokemon Let's Go Eevee and Let's Go Pikachu in Japan. Despite the success that the Switch exclusives saw, many fans hurled abuse at the studio which resulted in the #ThankYouGameFreak movement on social media.
