At the Jadhav Wrestling Stadium in Delhi on November 18, the Pokemon UNITE India Open 2023 Finals took place. As the excitement emanated from the arena, IGN India had a conversation with chief business officer Kenjiro Ito from The Pokemon Company, about its India journey, aspirations, and strategies for expansion.
The Pokemon Company’s journey and plans to expand in India
We asked Ito about The Pokemon Company’s plans for expanding the player base for Pokemon UNITE and Pokemon overall. He stated that the company is very excited and looking forward to expanding the player base not only for Pokemon UNITE but also Pokemon in general as well.
Reflecting on The Pokemon Company’s journey in India, Ito said that Pokemon’s popularity is rising in India, especially with titles like Pokemon GO. “Right now, our main business areas globally are mainly in the Asian region, especially Japan, then Europe and the US. In India, we haven’t had the chance to do business at the same level as those other countries. But we believe that the number of people who are playing Pokemon UNITE is really big right now in India, even compared to the other countries.”
Immersing Indians into the Pokemon world and the challenges
The next goal for The Pokemon Company is to immerse Indians further into the Pokemon universe. “Pokemon provides a very unique opportunity to people, in the sense that it introduces them to completely new and different Pokemon worlds. So we would love for Indian people to experience the Pokemon world,” Ito said.
As for the challenges that the company faces in the country, they are mainly cultural differences and the necessity for a local partner to navigate the market in an effective way. “The biggest challenge is that the culture is so different compared to Japan,” Ito revealed. “So the best-case scenario is for us to have a local partner in India to be focusing on doing business in the Indian market.”
But one thing Ito highlighted is the long-term vision for Pokemon in India. The company never looks for short-term goals, only the long-term ones. “That’s because people get bored with the new IPs and stuff so we want Pokemon to be loved in any new country for a long time, forever. That’s why we don’t have any short-term goals in that sense.”
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