The Pokémon Company just announced its new project: Pokkén Tournament. It's a fighting game in which Pocket Monsters square off.


Tsunekazu Ishihara, the head of the Pokémon Company, said on a NicoNico broadcast he wanted to offer an experience that players haven't had until now. This, it seems, is the result.



The game was first hinted at during The Pokémon Game Show in August 2013. New trademarks were also discovered around that time for "Pokkén Fighters" and "Pokkén Tournament."


Namco Bandai is developing Pokkén Tournament (ポッ拳トーナメント), and the Japanese title has the character "ken" (拳) from Tekken (鉄拳).

"Whether you are a casual player, a regular player or a hardcore player, anyone who likes Pokémon can have fun," said Namco's Katsuhiro Harada. The head of the Tekken Team said that Pokkén Tournament is actually "closer to an action game." He added that Namco used its "know how" to develop the game.

According to SoulCalibur producer Masaaki Hoshino, "For adult Pokémon fans, because we got our best developers, we made the best graphics, and created the best action game, so please! Please look forward to this!"

From what the developers and Ishihara said, it sounds like the game is also aimed at a very wide and casual adult audience. That isn't necessarily a bad thing! From what Harada said, it sounds like hardcore players will be able to enjoy the game, too.



The game is slated to hit Japanese arcades next year. No word on a console or a Western release.



月刊ファミ通feat. ポケモンスペシャル [NicoNico]



ポケモン新プロジェクト発表! [Pokemon]

To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft .

Advertisement