Pokémon Sleep Development Shifts to New Pokémon Subsidiary

From SELECT BUTTON to Pokémon Works

In a significant development for fans of Pokémon Sleep, the game's management is transitioning from SELECT BUTTON to the newly established Pokémon Works. This change was announced in March when The Pokémon Company launched Pokémon Works, leading to much speculation about its role in future projects. Now, eight months later, it's clear that Pokémon Works will be taking the reins on Pokémon Sleep's development and future updates.

"Until now, the development and operation of Pokémon Sleep has been a collaborative effort between SELECT BUTTON Co. Ltd. and The Pokémon Company, Ltd.," the developers shared in an in-app announcement, which was translated via machine translation. "However, we are excited to announce that the development and operation of Pokémon Sleep will gradually transition to Pokémon Works."

This update was shared via a general notice on the Japanese version of the Pokémon Sleep app. However, it's not yet clear how this shift will affect the global version of the game, as the announcement has not appeared in the app's News section for international users.

Details about Pokémon Works and its ongoing projects remain sparse. However, according to a greeting from Representative Director Takuya Iwasaki on their website, Pokémon Works is "a development team born from the collaboration between The Pokémon Company and Iruka Co., Ltd."

Interestingly, Pokémon Works shares an office in Shinjuku, Tokyo with ILCA, the studio behind the 2021 Pokémon remakes, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, and a key contributor to Pokémon HOME. Iwasaki's greeting also noted that Pokémon Works played a role in the development of Pokémon HOME.

While their previous involvement with Pokémon projects has been limited, Pokémon Works aims to "create an experience that makes Pokémon more real... so that everyone can enjoy meeting and adventuring with Pokémon." It will be fascinating to see how this vision translates into the future of Pokémon Sleep.