On what date was Game Freak officially incorporated, years before Pokémon launched?

Game Freak was officially incorporated on April 26, 1989.

The company grew from Game Freak, a video game fanzine created by Satoshi Tajiri. Tajiri and illustrator Ken Sugimori transformed the publication into a game-development group, and Game Freak later became the company that developed the original Pokémon titles.

Before Pokémon, Game Freak created games including Quinty, which was published by Namco in 1989. The company's early work helped build the technical and creative experience needed for the much larger Pokémon project.

The incorporation date is distinct from Pokémon's debut date. Game Freak became a formal company in 1989, Tajiri conceived Pokémon around 1990, and Pocket Monsters Red and Green finally launched in Japan in 1996. These milestones are often compressed into one timeline, but they happened several years apart.