Creatures Inc.

---

title: "Creatures Inc." type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["japanese-companies-established-in-1995", "toy-companies-established-in-1995", "toy-companies-of-japan", "video-game-companies-established-in-1995", "video-game-companies-of-japan", "video-game-development-companies", "nintendo", "pokémon-related-companies"] description: "Japanese video game developer" topic_path: "geography/japan" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatures_Inc." license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Japanese video game developer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Creatures Inc.
logo	Creatures Inc.svg
logo_caption	Logo used since 2025
image	Kudan Kaikan Terrace.jpg
image_caption	Headquarters in the Kudan-Kaikan Terrace building in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan
native_name	株式会社クリーチャーズ
native_name_lang	ja
romanized_name	Kabushiki gaisha Kurīchāzu
type	Private
industry	Video games
genre	{{Unbulleted list
predecessor	Ape Inc.
founded	{{Unbulleted list
founder	{{Unbulleted list
defunct
hq_location	Kudan-Kaikan Terrace, 1-6-5 Kudanminami
hq_location_city	Chiyoda, Tokyo
hq_location_country	Japan
num_locations	1 studio
num_locations_year	2019
key_people	{{Unbulleted list
products	Games
brands	{{Unbulleted list
num_employees	274
num_employees_year	2025
divisions	Pokémon CG Studio
website
footnotes
::

| fate = | predecessor = Ape Inc. | successor = | founded = {{Unbulleted list | Ape Inc. | in Tokyo, Japan | Creatures Inc. | in Tokyo, Japan | founder = {{Unbulleted list | Ape Inc. | Shigesato Itoi | Creatures Inc. | Tsunekazu Ishihara | defunct = | hq_location = Kudan-Kaikan Terrace, 1-6-5 Kudanminami | hq_location_city = Chiyoda, Tokyo | hq_location_country = Japan | num_locations = 1 studio | num_locations_year = 2019 | area_served = | key_people = {{Unbulleted list | Yuji Kitano (president and CEO) | Tomotaka Komura (vice president) | Hirokazu Tanaka (Creative Fellow) | products = Games | brands = {{Unbulleted list | Pokémon Trading Card Game | owner = | num_employees = 274 | num_employees_year = 2025 | parent = | divisions = Pokémon CG Studio | website = | footnotes =

is a Japanese video game company affiliated with Game Freak and Nintendo and is one of the owners of the Pokémon franchise. It was founded by Tsunekazu Ishihara in November 1995, with the assistance of then-president of HAL Laboratory, Satoru Iwata, as a successor to Shigesato Itoi's company Ape Inc.

Alongside Game Freak and Nintendo, Creatures jointly owns The Pokémon Company. It is best known for developing the Pokémon Trading Card Game and designing Pokémon toys. Creatures operates the Pokémon CG Studio, which focuses on the 3D modelling and animation of Pokémon models in all Pokémon games. Creatures has also developed Pokémon spin-off titles and various non-Pokémon titles. The company has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, in proximity to Kudanshita Station.

History

1989–1995: Ape Inc.

Ape Inc. was founded in March 1989 with Shigesato Itoi as its chief executive officer (CEO). 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 president, and Ashura Benimaru Itoh, a renowned illustrator. They began working on Mother, which was released on 27 July 1989. Its music was composed by Hirokazu 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. Ape's game development activities ceased in 1995.

Ape also produced a line of official guidebooks for Nintendo, in co-operation with Nintendo and Shogakukan. They began with Encyclopedia Mother in October 1989, and ended with Nintendo Official Guidebook—Pocket Monsters: Red, Green, Blue (Complete Compatibility, Revised Edition) on 10 January 1997. Shogakukan assumed Ape's role and continues to produce Nintendo Official Guidebooks in their stead.

1995–present: Creatures Inc.

Creatures Inc. was established on 8 November 1995, with Tsunekazu Ishihara as CEO, and consisting of former staff from Ape. In 2000, Hirokazu Tanaka, a.k.a. Hip Tanaka, a former Nintendo composer and sound designer, who joined Creatures in 1999, became President of the company as Ishihara went to become the President of The Pokémon Company in 2000, while still holding his CEO position in Creatures.

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, and again to the 10th floor of the Gorbanchō-ku Building in Gobanchō in 2007. They moved into the 23rd floor of the Iidabashi Grand Bloom building in Fujimi in 2017, and once again moved to the 9th floor the Kudan-Kaikan Terrace building located in Kudanminami in 2022.

Creatures has a division called Pokémon CG Studio that is dedicated solely to making Pokémon 3D models and animations. They only make the models and animations for the Pokémon themselves, as human characters are modeled and animated in-house at Game Freak. The studio as of 2017 had 22 full time 3DCG artists, however according to studio director Atsuko Ujiya they wanted to double it in the following years. She states that during its peak workload they have around 100 employees (including temporary contractors) to work on the creation of models and animations. In 2019, the division moved out from its office from the 3rd floor of the Fujimi Duplex Biz in Fujimi back to Creatures' main headquarters.

On 16 October 2020, Creatures announced the acquisition of Ambrella, the developer of a number of Pokémon spin-off games. Creatures acquired all property rights of Ambrella, and Ambrella disbanded, with its employees becoming part of Creatures.

In April 2023, Creatures announced that Tsunekazu Ishihara has stepped down at his position as CEO and executive director, and Hirokazu Tanaka has stepped down as president and executive director. Ishihara continues as the President of The Pokémon Company, and will continue to commit to the management of the company as a founder, while Tanaka will remain as Creative fellow. Yuji Kitano assume Creatures as CEO and President; meanwhile, Tomotaka Komura will step into the role of Executive vice president.

Games

Ape/Creatures has developed or has contributed to the development of the following games.

::data[format=table]

	= assistant developer
::

Ape

::data[format=table]

	Year	Title	Platform	Developer	Role	Notes
	1989	Mother	NES	Nintendo Tokyo R&D Products	Co-developer	Initially Japan only. Re-released worldwide in 2015 as EarthBound Beginnings.
1993	Monopoly	SNES	CreamSoft	Japan only.
Sanrio World Smash Ball!	Tomcat System
1994	EarthBound	HAL Laboratory	Released as Mother 2 in Japan.
1995	Mario's Picross	Game Boy	Jupiter
Tamori's Picross	SNES	title=Tamori's Picross	url=http://www.jupiter.co.jp/e/product/game/other/tamori.html	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107123144/http://www.jupiter.co.jp/e/product/game/other/tamori.html	archive-date=7 November 2017	url-status=live}}
The Monopoly Game 2	Tomcat System	Japan only.
Mario's Super Picross	Jupiter
2003	Mother 1+2	Game Boy Advance	Pax Softnica, HAL Laboratory	Porting	Compilation cartridge of Mother and Mother 2. Japan only.
::

Creatures

::data[format=table]

	Year	Title	Platform	Developer	Role	Notes
	1996	Picross 2	Game Boy	Jupiter	Co-developer	Japan only.
1997	Mini Yonku GB: Let's & Go!!	Jupiter	Co-developer	Based on mini yonku racing and a related manga and anime. Published by ASCII Corporation. Japan only.
1998	Game Boy Camera	Nintendo R&D1, Game Freak, Jupiter	Software co-development.
	Pocket Monsters Stadium (Japanese version)	Nintendo 64	Nintendo EAD	Pokémon modeling.	Japan only.
Hey You, Pikachu!	Ambrella	Pokémon modeling.
	Pokémon Trading Card Game	Game Boy Color	Hudson	Planning, game design, card design.
	1999	Super Smash Bros.	Nintendo 64	HAL Laboratory	title=Company History 1999	url=http://www.creatures.co.jp/html/outline/1999
Pokémon Snap	Part of 2D illustrations, Pokémon modeling.
Pokémon Stadium (international version)	Nintendo EAD	Part of 2D illustrations, Pokémon modeling.	Upgraded version of the original Pokémon Stadium. Released in Japan as Pokémon Stadium 2.
2000	Pokémon Stadium 2	Pokémon modeling.	Released in Japan as Pokémon Stadium Gold Silver.
	2001	Chee-Chai Alien	Game Boy Color	Creatures	Developer	Japan only.
	Pokémon Card GB2: GR-dan Sanjo!	Hudson	title=Company History 2001	url=http://www.creatures.co.jp/html/outline/2001/	website=creatures.co.jp	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925221023/http://www.creatures.co.jp/html/outline/2001/
	Super Smash Bros. Melee	GameCube	HAL Laboratory	Character, stage, and figure modeling. Opening movie design.
2003	Pokémon Colosseum	Genius Sonority	Pokémon modeling.
	2005	Nonono Puzzle Chailien	Game Boy Advance	Nintendo	Co-developer	Japan only. Chailien is sometimes spelled Chairian.
	Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness	GameCube	Genius Sonority	Pokémon modeling.
	2006	Pokémon Ranger	Nintendo DS	HAL Laboratory	Assistant developer.
	Project Hacker: Kakusei	Red Entertainment	Assistant developer.	Japan only.
Pokémon Battle Revolution	Wii	Genius Sonority	Pokémon modeling.
2007	Pokémon Battrio	Arcade	Tomy, AQ Interactive	title=Company History 2007	url=http://www.creatures.co.jp/html/outline/2007/	website=creatures.co.jp
	2008	Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia	Nintendo DS	Creatures	Developer
	Personal Trainer: Walking	Nintendo NSD, Engines	Software co-development.
	2009	PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure	Wii	Creatures	Developer
2010	Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs	Nintendo DS
	2011	Pokémon Card Game: How to Play DS	Zener Works	Co-developer	Instructional game on how to play the Pokémon Trading Card Game, included with a deck kit called the Beginning Set. Japan only.
	Pokédex 3D	Nintendo 3DS	Creatures	Developer	Free app. Discontinued after October 1, 2012.
PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond	Wii	Creatures
	2012	Pokémon Dream Radar	Nintendo 3DS	Game Freak	Co-developer
	Pokédex 3D Pro	title=Pokédex 3D Pro	url=https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/R5TzHAhM4u2NMwJjN6EO41k-yV9_MDn6	website=nintendo.com	archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810070639/https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/R5TzHAhM4u2NMwJjN6EO41k-yV9_MDn6	archive-date=10 August 2017
Pokédex for iOS	iOS	Creatures	Discontinued on November 30, 2015.
	2013	Pokémon X and Y	Nintendo 3DS	Game Freak	Pokémon modeling.
2014	Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
2015	Pokkén Tournament	Arcade, Wii U	Bandai Namco Studios
	2016	Great Detective Pikachu: Birth of a New Duo	Nintendo 3DS	Creatures	Developer
	Pokémon Duel	iOS, Android	Heroz	Pokémon modeling.	Discontinued on October 31, 2019.
Pokémon Go	iOS, iPadOS, Android	Niantic
Pokémon Sun and Moon	Nintendo 3DS	Game Freak
2017	Pokkén Tournament DX	Nintendo Switch	Bandai Namco Studios
	2018	Detective Pikachu	Nintendo 3DS	Creatures	Developer
	Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!	Nintendo Switch	Game Freak	Pokémon modeling.
2019	Pokémon Sword and Shield
2022	Pokémon Legends: Arceus
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
	2023	Detective Pikachu Returns	Creatures	Developer
	2024	Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket	iOS, Android	DeNA	Co-developer
::

Canceled

::data[format=table]

	2000	Mother 3: The End of the Pig King	Nintendo 64	HAL Laboratory	Character modeling.	Canceled in 2000. Restarted development without the participation of Creatures as the GBA game Mother 3.
::

Footnotes

References

References

1. Iggy. (17 May 2018). "Creatures Inc. Gets A Logo And Website Makeover".
2. "Company Outline".
3. "Company Outline".
4. "Iwata Asks: Pokémon HeartGold Version & SoulSilver Version".
5. (July 2007). "スペシャル対談／後編1・田尻さんと石原さんの6年". [[Nintendo]].
6. "Creatures - Pokémon - Serebii.net".
7. "Access Map".
8. (11 March 2009). "Quick History of the MOTHER Series".
9. "Creatures Welcome Page".
10. "Welcome to Creatures Inc".
11. "ポケモンの設定画に命を吹き込むクリーチャーズアセット制作にとどまらない現状と未来とは".
12. "『ポケットモンスター サン・ムーン』の3Dアセット制作とそれを可能にする高度な3社協業体制".
13. (16 October 2020). ["クリーチャーズ、ゲーム開発会社アンブレラを吸収合併].オタク産業通信"](https://otakuindustry.biz/archives/102918).
14. Writer, Jeffrey Rousseau Staff. (2023-04-05). "Creatures Inc. sees leadership change as CEO and president step down".
15. "役員人事に関するお知らせ".
16. "Tamori's Picross".
17. "Tamori's Picross".
18. "Mother 1+2".
19. "Picross 2".
20. "Picross 2 cartridge".
21. (14 December 2013). "Mario's Picross 2 (Game Boy)". Enrique Garcia / kachorro 2.
22. "Company >> History >> 1996".
23. "Picross 2".
24. "Mini 4x4 GB Let's & Go!!".
25. shisochou. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180302205350/https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Mini-Yonku-4WD-Lets-Go-Game-Boy-GB-Japan-import-cartridge-only-/252640004638 "Mini Yonku 4WD Let's & Go Game Boy GB Japan import cartridge only"] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20180302210612/https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/-pIAAOSwiONYLYrO/s-l1600.jpg direct link to picture of cartridge]), [[eBay]].
26. "Company >> History >> 1997".
27. "Mini Yonku GB: Let's & Go!!".
28. "Pocket Camera".
29. (11 February 2013). "Game Boy Camera And Printer Review". Michael's Retro Game Reviews / davidhass3lh0ff.
30. "Company >> History >> 1998".
31. "Company >> History >> 1999".
32. "Company >> History >> 2000".
33. "Company >> History >> 2001".
34. "Pokémon Card GB2: Here Comes Team GR!".
35. "Pokemon Trading Card Game 2: The Invasion of Team GR!".
36. "Company >> History >> 2003".
37. "Nonono Puzzle Chairian cartridge".
38. "Nonono Puzzle Chairian Releases".
39. "Company >> History >> 2005".
40. "Company >> History >> 2006".
41. "ポケモンバトリオ | ポケモンバトリオとは".
42. "Company >> History >> 2007".
43. (11 February 2013). "Pokemon TCG DS 15 Minutes Gameplay". TheLoneSwordsmen.
44. "Pokémon Card Game: How to Play DS".
45. "Pokédex 3D".
46. Miller, Zachary. (14 June 2011). "Pokédex 3D".
47. (2012-01-08). "Pokédex 3D Pro Coming Nov. 8; Pokémon Black Version 2 and Pokémon White Version 2 Debut New Features". [[Nintendo]].
48. (17 March 2013). "Pokémon Dream Radar title screen". [[Giant Bomb]].
49. "Pokémon Dream Radar".
50. "Pokédex 3D Pro".
51. "Pokédex for iOS".
52. "Pokédex for iOS App Goes Out of Service".
53. "Products".
54. (28 February 2024). "Shares in DeNA soar on announcement of new Pokemon trading card game".
55. "ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞 - ようこそ『Mother3』の世界へ！".
56. (18 August 2013). "Official Earthbound 64 Cancellation Interview".

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