On Friday we met with representatives from Niantic’s Pokémon Go group, who have been very excited to share two upcoming updates to the hit cell sport. They shared with us the small print of the added experiences which symbolize a big shift in how Pokémon Go may be performed.
The primary function is known as the “Pokéstop Showcase”. It is a limited-time contest hosted at Pokéstops that’s initiated by a participant in opposition to others who personal the identical Pokémon. An instance they supplied was with the inclusion of Pokémon sizes final yr, you can have a contest for largest Pikachu. On the finish of the competition the winner will get a medal for his or her achievement. A cool wrinkle within the contest is when you enter it, so long as it’s nonetheless open, you may attempt to gather a much bigger Pokémon and re-enter from any distance. It’s nice for many who’d need to enter a contest whereas touring, and one thing akin to a micro leaderboard. The representatives have instructed us they’re contemplating further beauty or different rewards for contest winners sooner or later.
The representatives have been particularly excited for his or her second function: Routes. Routes will probably be player-created geolocated paths that gamers themselves and others can then comply with. The participant will select a beginning Pokéstop location, choose the beginning path, present descriptions for the trail, give it classes akin to wheelchair accessible/artwork/informal, after which stroll the path they need to make. Routes may be as much as 12 miles in size. Particular Pokémon and objects will probably be unique to player-made paths. Some examples of how paths may very well be used are to create trails of not typically walked paths, string collectively a bunch of landmarks, or create a bar hopping path. They particularly have been excited at the potential of gaining extra engagement from rural gamers who could make extra individualized group content material. Niantic will proceed bettering upon the service with potential options like landmark pinning and human & AI developed content material moderation, not just for inappropriate phrases but additionally blocking routes by restricted areas or these meant just for trolling.
The most recent Pokémon Go updates will probably be in Early Entry inside the coming weeks. We’re excited to offer them a attempt within the wild and know followers of the sequence will probably be too.