Pokemon Dev Game Freak Reveals Project Bloom, A New Action-Adventure Game

GTA parent company Take-Two publishing label Private Division is partnering up with Pokemon developer Game Freak for a new game. Details are still scant, but Private Division said this will be a “brand-new action-adventure IP,” currently in the works under the codename Project Bloom.

The first piece of concept art has been released, and it is very striking. A person, seemingly wielding a sword, stands in the middle of the frame, staring into a deep woods with gorgeous colors bursting through the background. Whether or not this teaser art is indicative of the final art style for the game is unknown. But it’s gorgeous all the same–and a distinct departure from the style most associated with Game Freak.

Game Freak director Kota Furushima said Project Bloom will be “bold and tonally different” from the company’s past games.

“From the beginning, Private Division was the publisher we wanted to work with on our new game. Their track record and global expertise give us all the confidence to create a sweeping new action-adventure game that we can’t wait to share more about in the future,” Furushima said.

Private Division boss Michael Worosz said Game Freak has over the years created some of the most iconic games of all time, and the company is excited to work with the Japanese studio to “unleash their potential.” Worosz also mentioned how Private Division is the first Western publisher to work with Game Freak on a game.

Project Bloom is in “early development,” and there is no firm release date yet, though Private Division confirmed it is “expected” to release in Take-Two’s fiscal year 2026. That means the game is penciled in for release between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. Platforms for Project Bloom were not announced.

Game Freak is best known for its work on the Pokemon series, and its most recent release in that franchise was 2022’s Pokemon Scarlet/Violet. Game Freak has a long history of working with Nintendo and The Pokemon Company, but it continues to retain its independence as a private company, and that is not changing with today’s announcement of a deal with Private Division.

Game Freak has an internal division called Gear Project that works on original games outside of the Pokemon series. Its releases have included titles like Giga Wrecker, Pocket Card Jockey, and Tembo the Badass Elephant. The announcement of Project Bloom is not a huge surprise. After all, Game Freak programmer and director Masayuki Onoue told VGC in 2019 that Game Freak is “always trying to create something that is equally exciting, or more exciting than Pokemon.”

The announcement of Project Bloom comes just ahead of Take-Two’s next earnings briefing on May 17.

Private Division was established in 2015. It was behind major successes like The Outer Worlds from Obsidian and also relatively less successful titles like Disintegration from the co-creator of Halo. Beyond Project Bloom, Private Division will publish a new Lord of the Rings game from Weta and survival horror game from Bloober Team.