On what date was Game Freak officially incorporated as a company?

Game Freak was officially incorporated as a company on April 26, 1989.

The organization began as a self-published Japanese video-game magazine created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1983. Artist Ken Sugimori became involved after seeing the magazine, and the two later transformed the publication’s name into a game-development team. The company’s first published video game was Quinty, released by Namco in 1989.

Game Freak’s incorporation predates the Pokémon project by roughly one year. Tajiri conceived Pokémon around 1990 after considering how two Game Boys could exchange data through a link cable. Nintendo approved the project, but development lasted several years and placed the young company under serious financial strain.

The date is often mixed up with 1986, when Tajiri and collaborators formed an informal development team, or with 1990, when the Pokémon concept began taking shape. April 26, 1989 refers specifically to the legal incorporation of Game Freak as a company.