A recent interview with Game Director Junichi Masuda finally gives some insight into the prospect of an official Pokemon MMO.
“Of course, we hear all the opinions we get from our fans about an MMORPG,” game director Junichi Masuda. “But right now, we’re still unsure whether this core gameplay at the center of Pokémon–catching the Pokémon and raising them–would really translate well or really match the MMORPG format. Right now we think the best way for the widest possible audience to enjoy the games is the way we develop them now.”
This is the first time GameFreak has acknowledged the requests of the fans to have an official Pokemon MMO. Obviously it isn’t exactly good news to fans craving an official Pokemon MMO. It is pretty clear that an MMO will not be created, probably due to the probable impact it would have on the sales of handheld games. I mean, face it, the Pokemon handheld games are already getting somewhat repetitive; would people really continue to purchase the games if there was an well-made MMORPG on the market? Maybe, maybe not. It seems that GameFreak thinks the latter answer is true.
I’m sure they do know the potential for profit that MMORPGs can bring in, but they don’t seem to want to take the risk. Maybe this interview will calm the fans who so desperately want an official Pokemon MMO, probably not though. For now, I guess all of the Pokemon fans, myself included, will just have to be content with MMOs like Digimon Masters, Crystal Saga, possibly even the Pixelmon mod for Minecraft, and other games that will allow us to catch and tame monsters, but nothing will be the same. Here’s to hoping GameFreak will eventually make our dreams come true with a Pokemon MMO!