How long will the franchise last?

[Pendraflare]

I'm sure it will go for a long time.

However, if it does end, I will not be sad, because i'm plenty happy with what we have now and probably will be with what we're getting. In fact, I would have been perfectly fine if Black 2 and White 2 were the final main series games. (inb4 haters)

 

[Magykx]

As long as the franchise has paying customers, it will last. Now if the franchise will burnout over time may be another story.

I do believe however, that it Nintendo will tap-out at some point, maybe 1,000 Pokemon. Plus, let's be realistic, there's only so many kid friendly creature designs before it looks like they're just reaching for ideas *cough* Trubbish *cough*.

The games will definitely live on. With all the new technology, the games will only get better and better. I'm interested to see how the anime and TCG plays out though. I mean, the anime has always been great but it's had what, 17 seasons? (I may be wrong.)

 

[Banz]

Sorry pokemon is not the 2nd best seller:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games

But I do think it will be around for a very long time, there up coming generations of children / people that will get into it and keep buying so nintendo will see the profits and stick with it, but that is is just my opinion.

It is the 2nd best selling video game franchise after Mario
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_game_franchises

I do think the franchise will keep going for atleast a decade more.

 

[Amore]

As far as mainstream popularity goes, it's nowhere near as booming as it was between the late 90's and early 2000's.

Yeah, according to Wikipedia Black and White have sold around 15million. Red, Green and Blue sold 10million in Japan alone by the time Red and Blue were released in the US.

 

[«Chuckles»]

Yeah, according to Wikipedia Black and White have sold around 15million. Red, Green and Blue sold 10million in Japan alone by the time Red and Blue were released in the US.

Even more, 10 million back then was a lot of copies.so by ratio red and blue outsold blackband white I'm guessing

 

[XeroNos]

As the fans list never goes down, I think we might see 4 new generations afterwards and then they might call it quit

 

[RoreyG]

Yeah, according to Wikipedia Black and White have sold around 15million. Red, Green and Blue sold 10million in Japan alone by the time Red and Blue were released in the US.

Yup, although there has been some reclaimed interest since the release of 5th Gen, the franchise is nowhere near as dominant as it once was.

 

[Lucky1Yena]

There will always be children.

There will always be loyal old-time fans.

There will always be companies wanting to make money.

Thus, it's likely that there will be Pokémon for many years to come.

 

[franko94]

I think it will last as long as it doesn't have two poorly reviewed games in a row. The first game would need to be pretty bad (a 2-3 out of 10) and the second could be anything below a 6. At that point, the main series will end. I don't foresee that happening until easily Gen VII/Gen VIII.

 

[jfuze174]

I doubt Pokemon will ever end period the anime is simpsons looney tunes and other cartoons that could withstand time even if the anime was too end
also with the game aslong as the mascots have cool art works they are always going to sell to those little kids with handhelds shopping at toys r us with their parents even if they do not know the difference between a pikachu and a arceus. Pokemon is always going to appeal to kids. Pikachus is a iconic character in pop culture forget just pokemon Pokemon will never end even if they did stop making new pokemon or if ash wins a league it will just be rebooted of spined off for forever unless some controversy were to hit pokemon that in the aftermath no one wanted to touch the product

 

[Shrew]

The franchise will end when the technological world as we know it ends. Or if something politcally world-changing occurs in Japan.

They might stop making as much pokemon as they used to (around when they reach 1000), or they might stop making new pokemon but continue new plots (when they get into the higher thousands), but they aren't going to stop the franchise completely.

 

[Boilurn]

It probably won't end until we reach 999 Pokemon, so in approximately 2 generations time (Which is about 6 years later) we should have an ending to this franchise

 

[Bobith]

It will last 5ever. (That's even longer then 4ever.)

But in all seriousness, I'm giving it three more generations. However, I sincerely hope they'll continue after that point.

 

[Shamol]

I can't answer OP's question directly, there are just too many variables to consider.

One thing off the top of my head though: something that would definitely give the pokemon franchise more stability is introducing new, innovative concepts. Kind of like what Nolan did with Batman. They could try making the game a bit more...realistic in terms of some concepts, perhaps? That way its appeal to a different audience (young adults and seniors) would increase somewhat. Just my two cents.

 

[White Raven]

there's always ten year olds in this world, but I think that they are going to run out of designs

 

[Guy]

In terms of its popularity in certain regions, Pokémon has definitely declined since its heydays. Whereas once upon a time almost everyone you knew were either playing Pokémon, collecting the trading game cards, indulging in the anime or all of the above, it's much harder to find people ─ especially kids ─ doing that today.

As a business, however, it's succeeding and even breaking past records. Based on sales numbers alone, Pokémon is still a huge powerhouse for both GameFreak and Nintendo. So long as these companies are making a profit, I don't see Pokémon going anywhere anytime soon.

Sure, GameFreak may slow down on the number of new Pokémon they release each generation but they are certainly in no short supply just yet. I can easily see them surpassing 1000 Pokémon in the next ten - fifteen years.

The anime I can see going on as long as the ratings are there. It's a staple to the franchise and basically one big advertisement for the games, but I can see it coming to an end before the games do. If anything, they could always reboot the anime altogether despite the writers' persistence that Ash and Pikachu will always remain the face of Pokémon.

I hope Gen 6 is the last generation with new Pokemon, as there are already enough Pokemon (about 680) and they're running out of ideas.
As for the franchise itself, though, probably it'll not die until the Pokemon anime ends or something.

I've never understood the argument of "running out of ideas." If they keep on coming out with new Pokémon designs every new generation, then clearly they've still got ideas buried in them. While some designs are disappointing and some new designs are blatant copies of older Pokémon, GameFreak has yet to have shown that they are running out of new ideas.

We may not approve of all the new Pokémon they come up with, but nevertheless, they keep on coming. Until the day GameFreak finally stops making new Pokémon designs, then one cannot rightfully say that they've run out of ideas.

At least that's how I see it.

 

[Echidna]

The only thing I have to add is that I truly doubt that either Nintendo or Gamefreak would even consider quitting on Pokemon, especially at this particular point during its life-span. Why? Because they've just taken the biggest step this franchise has ever seen, the leap to 3D (in both it's form ; 3D environments and stereoscopic 3D).

This is a move everyone has been anticipating forever. Not all of us were necessarily looking forward to this, but I doubt any of us mind. And because they've taken this step (and not in a particularly complete manner if I may add, because I think we can all agree that the 3D in X & Y looks pretty damn far from what the gaming industry is capable of). Baby steps are great, because both the audience and developers at this time know that there is still much room for improvement and a large road ahead of us.

So yeah, my opinion is that we will see Generation 7 and almost definitely Generation 8 before the Pokemon franchise is even near its end.

 

[Xerneas_X]

It's still going strong in Europe, Japan, and the Americas.. so will go on for as long as the creators don't decide to retire it. But if it just went on and on.. even if the cartoon ended, the games will go on and on.. will be liek Mario Bros, Zelda, etc.. and still makign pokemon games even 20 years from now.

 

[CoffeeDrink]

In comparison to what, koff~

In comparing Capcom? Rising. Final Fantasy? Rising. There are several franchises out there that are just tired. Pokemon looked tired but, BOOM, fairy type, koffi~

 

[Actor]

When the series stops making money. Pokemon is still a very popular franchise (although nowhere near as successful as it was back in the late 90's/early 00's) and it still making enough money that Nintendo believes that it will be profitable.

I honestly feel that the people saying that they should stop making new pokemon are basically saying 'stop making the series'. Without new pokemon being introduced, the series will get old fast (although considering that Gen 5 was a ****heap for pokemon designs, there may be a few valid points).