Pokémon and its future, an interview with Takato Utsunomiya, COO of The Pokémon Company

Running a franchise for more than 25 years is no easy task. And among the many complications that can arise over that period of time is the fact that the original fan base is no longer the young people who have been captivated by the franchise since its inception and that a new generation must now be addressed. If anything has distinguished Pokémon over the past 25 years, it has been the new generations and the new horizons to be explored.

This was one of the many topics that came up during our experience at the 2023 Pokémon World Championships in Yokohama, Japan, both in competitions and surrounding events. If one thing was clear to us, it was one of the conversations we had during those days. During a roundtable discussion with members of the press from across the Americas, we had the opportunity to sit down with Takato Utsunomiya, COO of The Pokémon Company, who spoke to us about what Pokémon’s goal is and how the brand will continue to grow and reach new generations in the years to come.

Connecting the world through Pokémon

While the brand has positioned itself as one of the most profitable franchises in the world, The Pokémon Company believes it must “continue to expand the audience. The mission they have is clear, and Utsunomiya reiterated it: “To bring the world together through Pokémon.

Part of this connection is through the different products and the way Pokémon has expanded beyond video games and the Trading Card Game. Pokémon GO laid the groundwork for people to go on walks and get back together to play face-to-face, while the recently released Pokémon Sleep allows people to use their sleep time to be with the pocket monsters. For The Pokémon Company, however, the goal is less about wellness and more about “integrating Pokémon into people’s daily lives. And by doing that, we’re able to increase their love for Pokémon or get more people interested in Pokémon and increase the fan base in general.” Although Utsunomiya also mentions that this is how an entire generation that grew up with the series 27 years ago continues to show their love. You have a lot of people that are in these different industries and different companies who grew up with Pokemon. So there’s a lot of opportunities to work with a great variety of different places.”

However, games are not lagging behind, and although the pace at which games have been kept in a fixed way to keep presenting products and new experiences, they recognize the changes in the industry.”There’s more and more conversations, as the development environments change, about how we can continue to do this while making sure that we’re ensuring really quality products are also being introduced”.

New Generations

The integration of veteran players and new generations is something Utsunomiya is looking for. Because as a brand, the COO hopes that Pikachu and company, like classical music, will stand the test of time and accompany humanity for another 400 to 500 years. “I want Pokémon to still be this shining example of this brand that is in the spotlight, something that goes well beyond a person’s lifespan.”

To do this, The Pokémon Company knows that it must appeal to children and new technologies. Utsunomiya mentioned that “kids are always at the forefront of checking out the newest trend and technology. They’re always finding new experiences that adults aren’t aware of.” With this comes the challenge of moving away from using the original generation, which is the most popular among adults, but “we need to put in the spotlight all the Pokémon we have to continue to create a new experience.” Ultimately, Utsunomiya stresses that while adults are the ones with the money, “you can’t just focus on them, you have to make sure that if you want to keep Pokémon going for many generations, you have to be aware of what kids are into.”

On the other hand, Pokémon is also looking to continue to grow and expand in new directions, not so much horizontally, but vertically. One example of this is a special Kogei exhibit currently running in Los Angeles. “We have a pop-up exhibit going on in Los Angeles right now that features Pokémon and traditional Japanese crafts. It might seem like a non-intuitive match, Pokémon and traditional crafts, but they made a lot of interesting creations, very high quality.