Pokemon Should “Inject A Bit More Money” Into The Series, Says Ex-Nintendo Marketing Leads

Pokemon Legends: Z-A is finally here, which means we have another round of discourse to sit through. Every time a big Pokemon game drops, there’s usually talk of how the series is underfunded and how the games feel half-baked, despite how much they bring in. It’s an understandable complaint, as Pokemon Legends: Z-A is filled with flat balconies, icky foliage, and barely any voice acting to be heard.

It’s incredibly unusual for the biggest media franchise in the world to have a game that feels so cheap, and if the recent Pokemon giga leaks are accurate, the reason could be down to the game’s rather small budget. Earlier this week, it was claimed that Pokemon Legends: Z-A had a budget of just $13 million, which sounds like a lot, but is paltry considering blockbuster games from other platform holders like PlayStation and Xbox usually run up budgets in the hundreds of millions.

Pokemon Should “Inject A Bit More Money” Into The Series, Says Ex-Nintendo Marketing Leads

With that kind of information out there, whether it is accurate or not, discussion surrounding Nintendo and The Pokemon Company’s constant underfunding of its prize cash cow has been rampant. Even ex-Nintendo marketing leads Krysta Yang and Kit Ellis are baffled by the strategy, saying in their latest video (thanks GamesRadar) that Nintendo should probably “inject a bit more money” into things they know are guaranteed to make money.

“I truly don’t understand the strategy that some business person over there came up with, because you got a sure thing…it’s sold time and time again,” says Yang. “It’s never had an issue with sales, so why not invest a little bit more?… Just so you don’t have crappy trees and windows.”

It’s a fair point, and when you have games like Digimon Story: Time Stranger coming along and doing what Pokemon does but at a much higher quality (at least from an aesthetic point), you have to believe that Nintendo can’t keep banking on Pokemon bringing in the big bucks forever with as little investment as possible. You’d like to hope that Pokemon Wind & Waves (the supposed name of Gen 10) will up the quality a little more, but recent history probably has us lined up for more disappointment.