Development History

Overview

Beast of Reincarnation's development spans from 2020 to its planned August 4, 2026 release. A development cycle of approximately six years. The project began as a solo endeavor by director Kota Furushima within Game Freak's Gear Project initiative, was publicly announced under the working title "Project Bloom" through Take-Two's Private Division label, survived a complete restructuring of its publishing arrangement, and was ultimately revealed under publisher Fictions with its final title at the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2025.

The development history is notable not only for the game itself but for the corporate upheaval surrounding it. Between the initial announcement and the final reveal, Beast of Reincarnation's publisher changed twice (from Private Division to Haveli Investments to Fictions) without apparent disruption to Game Freak's development work.

Timeline

2020. Concept Phase

Director Kota Furushima began developing the concept for Beast of Reincarnation entirely alone, spending his first year on world-building, scenario writing, and narrative prototyping. Furushima had previously worked on Pokemon titles in UI, sound management, and planning roles. Making this his first project as a director and his first venture outside the Pokemon franchise.

Furushima described his motivation with remarkable specificity. He wanted to move beyond what Game Freak had done before: "I wanted to try something completely different and new, unlike other stuff we've made." But more than that, he had a deeply personal creative ambition. He wanted to create "something that could express the emotional feeling I get when I come into contact with creative works like watching a movie or reading a novel." This statement reveals that Beast of Reincarnation was conceived not as a gameplay product but as an emotional experience. Furushima wanted the game to affect players the way great films and novels affected him.

During this solo year, Furushima established the foundations that would define the entire project: the post-apocalyptic Japan setting, the relationship between Emma and Koo, the Blight mythology, the hybrid combat concept blending action and command-based gameplay, and the emotional core of a story about a lonely woman and her dog.

2021. Gear Project Approval

The project received formal approval through Game Freak's Gear Project initiative: the internal program that encourages developers to pitch original game ideas outside the Pokemon franchise. Previous Gear Project titles had been small-scale experimental games: HarmoKnight, Pocket Card Jockey, Tembo the Badass Elephant, Giga Wrecker, and Little Town Hero. None had approached anything resembling AAA scale.

Beast of Reincarnation's approval at AAA scale represented an enormous risk for Game Freak. The studio was committing significant resources (including external development partnerships) to a genre (action RPG), an engine (Unreal Engine 5), and platforms (PlayStation 5, Xbox) that were entirely outside their historical expertise. The Gear Project had never produced anything this ambitious, and the project's success or failure would likely determine whether Game Freak ever attempted AAA original IP again.

May 9, 2023. Project Bloom Announcement

On May 9, 2023, Game Freak and Take-Two's Private Division publicly announced the project under the working title "Project Bloom." The announcement was deliberately minimal: a single piece of concept art showing a lone woman standing in a forest, a projected 2026 release window, and confirmation of Furushima as director. No gameplay was shown, no platforms were confirmed beyond "next-gen consoles and PC," and no details about the game's mechanics or story were revealed.

The announcement was enough to generate significant industry attention simply because of who was making it. Game Freak (the Pokemon studio) was working on an original AAA game? The surprise factor alone made Project Bloom one of the most discussed announcements of 2023, despite the near-total absence of concrete information.

September 2024: The Annapurna Interactive Exodus

In September 2024, the entire staff of Annapurna Interactive resigned following disagreements with company owner Megan Ellison. This event, while not directly involving Beast of Reincarnation, set in motion a chain of corporate changes that would reshape the game's publishing future. The departing Annapurna staff were experienced publishing veterans who would eventually form Fictions, the company that would ultimately publish Beast of Reincarnation.

November 2024. Private Division Sold to Haveli

In November 2024, Take-Two Interactive sold Private Division (the indie publishing label that had announced Project Bloom just 18 months earlier) to Haveli Investments, an Austin, Texas-based private equity firm. The sale transferred Private Division's entire portfolio, including Beast of Reincarnation, to Haveli's control.

Haveli then struck a deal with the former Annapurna Interactive staff, funding the creation of a new publishing entity and placing the ex-Annapurna veterans in charge of the inherited portfolio. Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier reported on the deal structure and confirmed the arrangement.

Mid-2025. Fictions Established

Fictions Inc. was formally established as a new publishing entity, combining former Annapurna Interactive employees, former Private Division staff, and industry veterans including Greg Rice (from Double Fine and PlayStation Indies). The company inherited Private Division's catalog, including Beast of Reincarnation, and began preparing for the game's public reveal under its new banner.

June 8, 2025. Xbox Games Showcase Reveal

Beast of Reincarnation was officially revealed at the Xbox Games Showcase on June 8, 2025, one of the year's most anticipated gaming events. The reveal included:

• The game's final title: Beast of Reincarnation (replacing the "Project Bloom" working title)

• First gameplay trailer showing the hybrid combat system, Emma's vine-hair abilities, and Koo's companion mechanics

• Fictions confirmed as publisher

• Platform confirmations: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam and Microsoft Store)

• Day One availability on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with Xbox Play Anywhere and Cloud Gaming support

• A nine-screenshot press pack released alongside the trailer, providing the first detailed look at the game's environments, characters, and combat

The reveal generated enormous attention. The combination of Game Freak's name recognition, the striking visual design, the unusual hybrid combat concept, and the sheer unexpectedness of a Pokemon studio releasing a dark, photorealistic action RPG made Beast of Reincarnation one of the most discussed games of the showcase.

January 22, 2026. Xbox Developer Direct

The fourth annual Xbox Developer Direct featured an in-depth showcase of Beast of Reincarnation, filmed on location at Game Freak's Tokyo studio. Director Furushima personally presented the game, providing the most detailed look at its systems and design philosophy to date. The presentation revealed:

• Detailed explanation of the combat system the parry-to-FP-to-Blooming Art command loop was shown step by step

• Emma's plant abilities demonstrated in both traversal and combat contexts

• The skill tree system revealed, three trees per character (close-range, long-range, stealth) with cross-character synergies

• Spirit Stones and the parry-stacking compounding mechanic explained

• Three difficulty modes confirmed: Story Mode, Normal Mode, Hard Mode

• Character reveals including Kunai, Brad and Kagura

• Summer 2026 release window announced (narrowed from the original 2026 projection)

February 12, 2026. State of Play

A new gameplay trailer debuted during PlayStation's State of Play broadcast on February 12, 2026. The trailer confirmed the specific release date: August 4, 2026 the first time a precise date had been given. The trailer also showcased new gameplay elements:

• The crossbow weapon was shown for the first time, firing elemental bolts

• Extended air combo sequences demonstrated

• Plant ability aerial launches shown in combat context

• New enemy types and environments revealed

Development Challenges

Furushima has been remarkably candid about the difficulties of Beast of Reincarnation's development. Unusually so for a Japanese game director, who typically maintain more guarded public personas. His statements paint a picture of a team that knew they were attempting something extraordinarily ambitious and struggled with nearly every aspect of it.

On the team's readiness: "Our team had to rebuild their skill sets nearly from scratch." This reflects the reality that Game Freak's expertise in turn-based Pokemon development on Nintendo hardware was largely inapplicable to real-time action RPG development on Unreal Engine 5 targeting PlayStation and Xbox. The team was not just making a new game. They were learning how to make an entirely different kind of game.

On the overall difficulty: "Every single thing about making it has been a challenge." This simple statement captures the scope of what Game Freak attempted. Not some things. Not most things. Every single thing. World-building, combat design, Unreal Engine 5 development, photorealistic art direction, multiplatform deployment, action game balancing, all of it was new territory.

On performance expectations: "We're not looking to make, say, a title of a certain level of quality. We're looking to deliver a very specific game experience." This statement is telling. Rather than committing to specific performance benchmarks (frame rate, resolution, etc.), Furushima framed the team's goal in experiential terms. Delivering a specific feeling to the player. Whether this represents confidence in the game's technical performance or a deliberate redirection from technical discussions remains to be seen.

External Partnerships

Game Freak addressed the challenge of developing outside their expertise by partnering extensively with external development companies. The internal team is described as "relatively small," primarily handling direction and management while multiple partner studios contribute to production. This structure allowed Game Freak to maintain creative control while leveraging external expertise in areas like Unreal Engine 5 development, action game animation, photorealistic environment art, and multiplatform optimization.

Furushima confirmed this openly: "It's not all folks internally here at Game Freak. We managed to seek out a lot of partner companies to work with us." The identities of these partner studios have not been disclosed, but the model itself is common in AAA Japanese development. Studios like FromSoftware and Square Enix similarly rely on external partnerships for large-scale projects.

Key Milestones Summary

• 2020 Furushima begins solo concept development

• 2021 Gear Project approval; team formation begins

• May 9, 2023 "Project Bloom" announced by Private Division

• September 2024 Annapurna Interactive staff mass resignation

• November 2024 Take-Two sells Private Division to Haveli Investments

• Mid-2025 Fictions established by ex-Annapurna staff with Haveli backing

• June 8, 2025 Xbox Games Showcase: final title, first gameplay, Fictions confirmed

• January 22, 2026 Xbox Developer Direct: in-depth combat and systems showcase

• February 12, 2026 State of Play: August 4, 2026 release date confirmed

• August 4, 2026 Planned release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Day One Game Pass)