Creatures (company)


is a Japanese video game development company affiliated with The Pokémon Company. It was founded by Tsunekazu Ishihara in November 1995, with the assistance of Satoru Iwata, at the time the president of Hal Laboratory, as a successor to Shigesato Itoi's company Ape Inc. It is best known for creating the Pokémon Trading Card Game, designing Pokémon toys, and developing various video games. Its current president is Hirokazu Tanaka, who was previously known for producing and composing music for various other Nintendo games. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, in proximity to Ichigaya Station.

History

1989-1994: As Ape Inc.

Ape Inc. was founded in March 1989 with Shigesato Itoi as its chief executive officer. Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi had wanted to support new talent in game design. Liking Itoi's work, he proposed the idea of the company to Itoi and invested in it. Ape's staff included Tsunekazu Ishihara, who later became the Pokémon Company's CEO, and Ashura Benimaru Itoh, a renowned illustrator. They began working on Mother, which was released on 27 July 1989. Its music was composed by Hip Tanaka, who later became the second CEO of Creatures. The team went on to develop Mother 2, which would be known in the Western world as EarthBound. When development of this game began to falter, Satoru Iwata of HAL Laboratory was brought in to help the project. The game was released in Japan on 27 August 1994. The Ape team was dismantled in 1995.

1995-present: As Creatures Inc.

Creatures Inc. was established on 8 November 1995, with Tsunekazu Ishihara as CEO, and consisting of former staff from Ape.
At one point, Creatures had its headquarters on the 7th floor of the Nintendo Kanda Building in Sudachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo. They later moved to the fifth floor annex of the Kawasakiteitoku Building in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo.
Creatures is also known for developing the Pokémon Trading Card Game, as well as various Pokémon toys.

Gameography

Ape/Creatures has developed or has contributed to the development of the following games.
= developer
= co-developer
= assistant developer
= publisher

As Ape

As Creatures