Nintendo Printing Money, But Pokémon Still Runs at 15 FPS Lah
Pokémon makes billions, but Nintendo acts broke. Pok Gai breaks down how the richest brand in gaming still runs like a budget indie studio from Sham Shui Po.
💸 The Richest Franchise in Gaming, Running Like a Side Project
Pokémon isn’t just big — it’s a financial kaiju.
Over US$90 billion in lifetime revenue: trading cards, anime, plushies, mobile games, merch collabs, even bubble-tea cups.
Yet every new release looks like it was coded on a toaster running Windows Vista.
Meanwhile, Nintendo executives in Kyoto be like:
“Why spend $100 million when nostalgia is free?”
They treat Pokémon like their budget side hustle — the one they don’t respect but still cash checks from.
🧑💻 Game Freak’s Sweatshop Energy
You’d think the world’s biggest IP gets a Hollywood-scale studio.
Nope.
Game Freak has around 200 employees — smaller than a Starbucks in Mong Kok.
They’re expected to ship a major Pokémon title every two years to keep merch, anime, and shareholder expectations alive.
The result?
Each release is a technical dumpster fire:
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet hit 15 fps during weather effects.
NPCs teleport like they borrowed code from Cyberpunk 2077’s beta.
Fans have to “fix” the game with mods faster than Nintendo can release patches.
Imagine Rockstar giving GTA VI to a 200-person indie team.
That’s what Nintendo’s doing to Pokémon — except worse, because Rockstar would at least pay overtime.
🧮 Follow the Money
Let’s compare some actual numbers:
FranchiseLifetime RevenueEst. Budget per TitleVisual QualityPokémon$90 B+$15–25 MMid PS3 at bestZelda$3 B$70 MBreathtakingGTA$8 B$100 M+Movie-tierFortnite$20 BHundreds MHigh end
Nintendo could triple Game Freak’s budget and still profit more than a shiny Charizard auction.
But they won’t.
Because the Pokémon audience buys first and complains later.
We’re addicts in a Pika-shaped casino.
🧠 Why Nintendo Refuses to Evolve
Nintendo hides behind its favorite excuse: “We value tradition.”
Translation: We’re cheap and scared of risk.
They fear a modern, AAA Pokémon might alienate “casual fans.”
In reality, they’re terrified of raising the standard — because once you taste filet mignon, you won’t pay steakhouse prices for instant noodles.
That’s why we’ll never get the Pokémon MMO everyone dreams about.
An interconnected world full of trainers, live tournaments, actual social play? Too expensive, too modern, too un-Nintendo.
🪙 The Psychology of the Poké Addict
Let’s be real: Pokémon isn’t gaming anymore — it’s religion.
Fans defend it harder than Apple users justify dongles.
Nintendo’s genius move is weaponized nostalgia.
Every generation, they drop new starters, tease childhood memories, and boom — instant FOMO.
They know players will post screenshots of frame drops while simultaneously pre-ordering the DLC.
We’re all complicit.
Pok Gai included.
I complain, I rant, then I buy the next one “for research purposes.”
🧩 The Real Victims: Creativity & Culture
Pokémon could be the perfect bridge between generations:
a worldwide MMO, community creativity, AR integration — literal cultural diplomacy through monsters.
Instead, Nintendo limits it to the same recycled loop because their spreadsheet says “minimum effort, maximum yen.”
And that’s tragic, because the artists and devs inside Game Freak are talented as hell.
They’re trapped by a corporate machine allergic to risk.
Give those devs Zelda-level freedom, and they’d build something historic.
💥 The Pok Gai Verdict
Nintendo owns the golden Magikarp, but refuses to evolve it into Gyarados.
They milk our childhood memories, call it “innovation,” and cash out before the game even boots properly.
Pokémon deserves better than 15 fps forests and reused animations from 2014.
Until Nintendo reinvests in quality, every release will just be another overpriced nostalgia tax — and we’re still lining up to pay it, lah.
💬 FAQ
1️⃣ Why does Nintendo underfund Pokémon development?
Because the profit margins are insane without higher budgets. Fans buy regardless of quality, so Nintendo has zero incentive to spend more.
2️⃣ How much profit does Pokémon generate each year?
Analysts estimate the franchise earns US$1.5–2 billion annually, mostly from merchandise and licensing, not the games themselves — proving the games are just ads for merch.
3️⃣ Is Pokémon’s quality suffering from low budgets?
Absolutely. The rushed release cycle, under-resourced dev teams, and weak optimization lead to performance issues, recycled animations, and lower player trust — but high sales.