Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori developed Game Freak into a video-game studio.
Game Freak began as a handwritten and stapled fanzine created by Tajiri in 1981. It focused on arcade games, strategies, and hidden features. Sugimori discovered the magazine and became its illustrator, beginning a long creative partnership with Tajiri.
In 1989, the pair transformed Game Freak from a publication into a game-development company. Its first published game was Quinty, an arcade-style title released by Namco. Several years later, Game Freak began work on the project that became Pokémon Red and Green.
Game Freak is sometimes confused with Creatures Inc. or The Pokémon Company. Creatures invested in the original Pokémon project and became a major franchise partner, while The Pokémon Company was established later to manage Pokémon-related business and licensing. Game Freak remains most closely associated with developing the core Pokémon games.