While thePokemonfranchise has arguably become most known for its mainline games, anime, and trading card game over the years, it has also had its fair share of spin-off games. Usually, the first spin-offs that come to many fans' minds include classic games likePokemon Snap,Pokemon Pinball, andPokemon Stadium, but the franchise has had its fair share of spin-off titles in recent years as well, with even more on the way,likeNew Pokemon Snap.
Back in the days of the Nintendo Wii in 2009,Pokemon Rumblereleased as a WiiWare game. The spin-off saw players take control of toy Pokemon to battle through dungeons, forests, and arenas, among other areas as they acquired more toy Pokemon as they progressed. However, though severalPokemon Rumbletitles have released since then, the developer most known for the series, Ambrella, has been fully acquired and dissolved byCreatures Inc., a development studiowhich works closely with The Pokemon Company.
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The acquisition was announced back in October 2020, but Creatures Inc. now officially owns all of the property rights of Ambrella, which has also been dissolved. While it isn’t known why exactly this acquisition took place, it is likely that Ambrella and Creatures Inc. had similar goals, though Creatures Inc. has a longer history withThe Pokemon Companyand is much larger.
Apart from severalPokemon Rumbletitles, Ambrella has also worked on a variety of spin-offs for the franchise includingHey You, Pikachu!,Pokemon Channel, andPokemon Dash, some of which were even co-developed with Creatures Inc. Ambrella’s most recent title wasPokemon Rumble Rush, which released on mobile devices back in 2019. However,Pokemon Rumble Rushofficially shut downjust this past summer, perhaps serving as a premonition of the development studio’s acquisition. For the time being, it is unclear whether morePokemon Rumbletitles will release in the future.
Creatures Inc. has developed severalPokemonspin-off titles in the past, but it has most notably worked on Pokemon modeling for mainline titles likePokemon XandY, as well asSwordandShieldrecently. While fans try not to get their hopes up about a new entry in thePokemon Rumbleseries, they still hope to see the return of classic spin-offs likeHey You, Pikachu!and the Game Boy Color’sThe Pokemon Trading Card Game.
Even though mainline titles tend to carry most of the meat ofPokemonvideo games, other recent spin-offs likePokken Tournament DXandPokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DXhave been very well received. While the future of someof the franchise’s spin-offs seems unclear, fans can likely still expect more to come withPokemon’s 25th anniversary this year.
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