Game Freak was first published as a video-game magazine by Satoshi Tajiri in 1983.
Before Game Freak became the development company behind Pokémon, it was a self-published Japanese magazine. Tajiri wrote about arcade games, strategies, and game secrets, producing the publication for readers at a time when dedicated video-game magazines were still uncommon in Japan.
Ken Sugimori later joined the magazine as an illustrator after discovering it in a shop. Their collaboration eventually developed into a game-creation partnership, with Sugimori contributing art and Tajiri directing game concepts.
The magazine’s name survived when Tajiri and Sugimori established the Game Freak development company. Game Freak was formally incorporated on April 26, 1989, several years before it began developing Pokémon. Confusing the magazine’s founding with the company’s incorporation is a common chronology error.