The Pokémon Company: Difference between revisions

[[File:The pokemon company.png|right|thumb|The Pokémon Company logo]]

'''The Pokémon Company''' (Japanese: '''{{j|株式会社ポケモン}}''' ''{{wp|Kabushiki gaisha}} Pokémon'') is a company responsible for the licensing and marketing of the [[Pokémon]] franchise, managing [[Pokémon Center (store)|retail store operation]], [[Pokémon games|game software]], [[Pokémon Trading Card Game|card games]], license management, [[Pokémon anime|TV animation]] and [[Pokémon movie|film]], and other ancillary businesses.<ref name="biz"/>. It is a {{wp|joint venture}} by [[Nintendo]], [[Game Freak]], and [[Creatures]].

The Pokémon Company was founded on April 23, 1998<ref name="biz">[http://www.pokemon.co.jp/corporate/en/outline/ Company Profile | The Pokémon Company]</ref> as '''The Pokémon Center Company''' (Japanese: '''{{j|ポケモンセンター株式会社}}''' ''Pokémon Center kabushiki gaisha''). The current name was established in October 2000.<ref name="his">[http://www.pokemon.co.jp/corporate/en/history/ Company History | The Pokémon Company]</ref>

Outside of most Asian countries, The Pokémon Company operates under its subsidiary '''[[The Pokémon Company International]]''', which was founded in February 2001 as '''Pokémon USA'''<ref name="his"/> and later merged in 2009 with the '''Pokémon UK'''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090413121437/http://worldscreen.com/articles/display/20547 ''Pokémon Merges North American, European Operations'' (WorldScreen.com news article from April 9, 2009)]</ref> (itself founded in March 2003<ref name="his"/>) to form the current single subsidiary. In {{pmin|Australia}} and {{pmin|New Zealand}}, the Pokémon franchise is managed by {{wp|Nintendo Australia}}. In {{pmin|South Korea}}, the franchise is managed by '''Pokémon Korea, Inc.''', founded in August 2006.<ref name="his"/>

In April 2010, it founded an affiliate called '''The Pokémon Communications Company''' (Japanese: '''{{j|株式会社ポケモンコミュニケーションズ}}''' ''Kabushiki gaisha Pokémon Communications'').<ref name="his"/>

All [[Pokémon games]] have sold 275 million copies worldwide as of late March 2015,<ref name="fig">[http://www.pokemon.co.jp/corporate/en/data/ Pokémon in Figures | The Pokémon Company]</ref> effectively making Pokémon one of the most successful video game series along with [[Nintendo]]'s own {{smw|Mario}}.

21.5 billion cards of the {{pkmn|Trading Card Game}} have been shipped globally as of late March 2015.<ref name="fig"/>

Box-office revenue for [[M01]] through [[M17]] is ¥74.11 billion as of late January 2015.<ref name="fig"/>