Pokémon Go has completely lost my interest, and there’s very little that Niantic can do to bring me back in to its little critter-catching game. While many agree with me, there’s still a ridiculously large core user base that’s still actively playing.
Like most games of its ilk, it’ll continually evolve – and in the future, Pokémon Go will be a very different beast to the simple game that’s available now. The game’s recently introduced a buddy system, which lets users take a friendly Pokémon along with them on their walks, earning the candies necessary for evolution. Of course, there’s more to come. But what is it that users can expect?
Speaking to TechCrunch, Niantic’s John Hanke said that Pokémon Go as it stands right now is the minimum viable product – and is “just the tip of the iceberg” of where the game is going to be. ““I think it will change substantially over the years,” he says, pointing fingers at their other real world game, Ingress, as a model for the future of Pokémon Go.
However, when asked about his longer term vision for the game, Hanke said that now the minimum viable product is out in the market, it’s really just the “tip of an iceberg” in terms of where the team wants to take the game.
“A lot of what we’re doing with Pokémon, we learned through three years of hard work with Ingress and building up that community around the world, maturing that technology, the social aspect of it, the group gameplay, and the events for Ingress are really the lifeblood of that game,” Hanke said. “I think you can expect to see things like that in Pokémon Go.”
That sounds nice and all, but I think the one feature that people want more than anything else – and the one thing that I believe could revitalise the game for lapsed players – is PvP battling. Unfortunately, there are no plans for that just yet – but it could be coming in the future, along with the much requested trading feature.
“I have 10 year old son – he’s my Pokémon expert, we play together – he wants to battle his friends in Pokémon Go,” he said. “Battling is something we talk a lot about. It’s probably something that will make its way onto our roadmap.”
Last Updated: September 15, 2016
Ottokie
September 15, 2016 at 09:04
Also, they might want to try and release the game actually in all the other left out continents…just a thought
VampyreSquirrel
September 15, 2016 at 09:09
And they’re talking about adding Gen2 pokemon already… ummm… finish releasing the game, give us PvP battles, and fix your tracking… then do all this other kak.
Vulcha
September 15, 2016 at 10:43
Just a thought… what if the problem facing release in South Africa is that one of the local distribution companies landed the rights to distribute any electronic product based on the Pokemon trademark, and Niantic aren’t allowed to publish Pokemon Go on Google Play or the Apple Store without paying royalties?
VampyreSquirrel
September 15, 2016 at 10:52
Nintendo South Africa is the distributor for all their brands, including Pokemon, so Niantic shouldn’t have any issues.
That is of course, unless I missed something somewhere along the lines.
Vulcha
September 15, 2016 at 11:04
Ah, I see. Thank you for the info. The only other reason I could think of was that silly FPB nonsense.
VampyreSquirrel
September 15, 2016 at 11:08
Yeah, could be that. Who knows? They stop the weirdest stuff from hitting our shores.
Audacity (or-das-it-eeee-eee)
September 15, 2016 at 11:40
I’d just like to point out that this man is taking game development advise from a 10 year old 😛
Raptor Rants
September 15, 2016 at 11:45
That’s actually where the biggest heart of gaming is. A little kid’s imagination is far more interesting than a grown man.
This guy actually gets it.
Raptor Rants
September 15, 2016 at 12:02
Oh… This still exists? I went back to my DS
Spy Master Tokashi
September 15, 2016 at 14:06
The issue is, minimum viable product is out and people are getting bored of the game. They really need to get the features that the community want out very quickly else they wont have a big market anymore.