Game Freak is the Japanese video game developer that created the Pokémon main-series games.
Satoshi Tajiri and Ken Sugimori founded Game Freak as a video game company in Tokyo on April 26, 1989. Tajiri had previously used the name for a self-published video game magazine, and Sugimori contributed illustrations to that magazine before becoming the company's art director.
Game Freak developed Pokémon Red and Green for Nintendo's Game Boy, while Nintendo published the games. The relationship continued through later generations, although Pokémon is managed as a broader multimedia property involving The Pokémon Company, Nintendo, and Creatures.
The distinction between developer and publisher causes frequent confusion. Game Freak is the primary developer of the role-playing game series, Nintendo has published and distributed many entries, and The Pokémon Company oversees the wider brand. Game Freak's other projects include Mendel Palace, Pulseman, HarmoKnight, and Giga Wrecker, but Pokémon remains its defining series.