The recent Pokemon leak has not been good for Game Freak with details emerging about a range of topics and even games that the developer has in the pipeline. One document reveals why Junichi Masuda is no longer directing Pokemon games. Junichi Masuda said back in 2018 that he was stepping back from a directorial role in the games and now documents published online reveal the full extent of things. Here’s what’s been translated by Centro LEAKS:
- Referred as “the era of Masuda’s absolute dominance”
- Masuda alone handled development planning, personnel decisions, public relations, and game design
- Up through Black & White, it was an era where no one could oppose him
- However, this led to a concentration of power and the organization began to run out of control
- In personnel matters, “unnecessary people” and “favorites” emerged
- The games’ content shifted from being focused on fun to being driven by PR
- They could no longer do proper game design
- Various problems arose, and during the development of X/Y
- Masuda got into an argument with Sugimori, resulting in a decision that he would no longer be allowed to direct from then on
