Game Freak’s Junichi Masuda didn’t expect Pokemon GO to become a “big phenomenon”

Pokemon GO became a worldwide phenomenon almost immediately after launching in July. Since its debut, the mobile game garnered hundreds of millions of players across the globe and grabbed headlines left and right. Although Game Freak‘s Junichi Masuda was involved in the development process of the game, he didn’t expect it to become as popular as it is. “I personally didn’t expect it to be such a big phenomenon that it had become,” Masuda told Game Informer. “When we were first beginning the development of the game, I really just kind of expected it a lot – I mean, I guessed a lot of people would play it, but a smaller thing, where people would just enjoy going outside and catching some Pokémon. That was really actually where we put the focus of the game.”