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Niantic creates a 5G supergroup for 'planet-scale AR' experiences
Niantic, the AR specialist behind Ingress and Pokémon Go, has made a telecommunications dream team with some of the world’s biggest carriers. The ‘Planet-Scale AR Alliance’ has been formed with Deutsche Telekom, EE, Globe, Orange, SK Telecom, SoftBank, TELUS and Verizon. Niantic has been building and teasing a “planet-scale” AR platform for some time that will help developers make their own location-based experiences.
'Pokémon Go' will stop working on old Android and iOS devices in October
Niantic has announced that Pokémon Go will stop supporting devices running Android 5, iOS 10 and iOS 11. For Apple owners, in particular, the game will no longer work on the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6 even if you install iOS 12 on it.
'Pokémon Go' super-sizes its creatures with Mega Evolutions
You can battle with giant versions of Venusaur, Charizard, Blastoise and Beedrill.
‘Pokémon Go’ raid invites will let friends join your battle remotely
‘Pokémon Go’ is adding raid invites to make it easier for you to play with friends from a distance, as well as stickers for gift messages.
Pokémon Go Fest 2020 is a stay-at-home event starting July 25th
Pokémon Go Fest 2020 will be a virtual event rather than an in-person meet-up this year.
'Pokémon Go' will better blend AR creatures into the real world
'Pokémon Go' will improve its AR experience by merging characters with the real world.
Now your 'Pokémon Go' buddy will gather gifts while you stay at home
The features Niantic announced for Pokémon Go in mid-April are starting to make their way to your mobile devices. To start with, your Buddy Pokémon — that one special monster you choose to appear next to your avatar — will now bring back gifts from nearby PokéStops and Gyms for you. It’s obviously a feature meant to encourage staying at home, so you don’t have to venture out to PokéStops to gather gifts for friends.
'Pokémon Go' introduces remote raids to encourage staying at home
'Pokémon Go' has added raids you can play while staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Niantic buys a 3D mapping startup to enable 'planet-scale' AR
As much as Niantic might be focused on making its location-based games more playable at home, it's also thinking about its future. The developer has bought 3D mapping startup 6D.ai to help it develop "planet-scale" augmented reality. The relative newcomer's work on 3D environment reconstruction and persistent AR objects promises more sophisticated experiences than you're used to in the past. Niantic teased the prospect of seeing creature habitats in Pokémon Go, or dragons landing on buildings.
Niantic is doing more to help 'Pokémon Go' gamers play at home
Niantic isn't done making it easier to play its location-based games while you're staying home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The developer has outlined some of its future plans for titles like Pokémon Go, Ingress and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and it's quite clear that you won't have to step outside to make progress during the outbreak. Adventure Sync will better support indoor activities (say, running on a treadmill). Pokémon Go Raid Battles will be playable at home. Social features will help you keep in touch with players you can't see in person, and there are even plans to help you "virtually visit" real-world locations.
'Minecraft Earth' tweaks encourage home play and social distancing
Microsoft's mobile AR title Minecraft Earth is following the lead of Pokémon Go by introducing new features that make it easier to play at home during the coronavirus pandemic. To start with, you'll have better access to "tappables" (resources like grass, stones and livestock), because they'll spawn more often and closer to you. Also, Minecraft Earth has introduced "adventure crystals" that spawn adventures right where you are, so you'll no longer need to go out and seek them.
Pokémon Go gets easier and cheaper to play while you're stuck at home
It could be tough getting enough Poké Balls when you have to stay at home and can't visit PokéStops. To make sure you have enough balls to catch monsters with, Niantic has started selling a 100-Poké Ball bundle for 1 PokéCoin in the Pokémon Go shop. The company has launched a rotating 1 PokéCoin bundle that will change every week and will be available as one-time purchases. It's also increasing daily bonuses and giving you three times the Stardust and XP for your first catch of the day, as well as adjusting the number of gifts you can open in a day to 30.
Niantic cancels ‘Pokémon Go’ and ‘Wizards Unite’ community days
Niantic is postponing the Pokémon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite community days for March due to concerns around COVID-19. In a statement, the company said that the safety of its players is its "top priority," and that it will adjust its games to better suit current public health advice. Consequently, as well as cancelling the community days, Niantic is making it easier to play Pokémon Go at home.
'Minecraft Earth' gets a bit more physical thanks to new NFC-enabled minis
When the mobile-based Minecraft Earth was announced last year, it immediately drew comparisons to Pokémon Go because of its use of augmented reality and location-based activities. But it was very different (as senior editor Jess Conditt will attest), since it didn't require you to actually go outside to partake in its mining and building gameplay. Now, Mattel has added another play dimension to Minecraft Earth that Pokémon Go can't really boast of: NFC-enabled figurines.
Niantic announces real-world events for its Pokémon and Harry Potter games
Niantic's real-world events for 2019 were so successful that they generated $249 million in tourism revenue across Chicago, Dortmund and Montréal. That's what the company has revealed in a new events website, which it launched alongside its festival lineup for 2020. Niantic has several events in store for Pokémon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Ingress players across the globe in the coming months.
‘Pokémon Go’ will let you play with your monster pals 'soon'
Pokémon Go developer Niantic is close to putting the finishing touches on a feature that will likely fulfill a longstanding wish for a lot of the game's fans. By 2020, Ninatic says you'll be able to play with and feed your favorite Pokémon in augmented reality thanks to the "Buddy Adventure" feature the studio plans to add to the game.
Niantic is adding gifting to ‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’
Taking a page from Pokémon Go, Niantic is adding gifting to Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The next time you launch the augmented reality game, you'll be able to find different colored boxes at the game's inns, fortresses and greenhouses, and then send them to your friends.
‘Pokémon Go’ users can add PokéStops and gyms with Niantic Wayfarer
Last week, Pokémon Go developer Niantic announced several new features for its AR game. One of the updates, Niantic Wayfarer, is now available for all trainers who have achieved level 40 or higher, allowing them to add real-world locations to the game's map. These spots can serve as Pokéstops (where you can buy supplies) or gyms (where you can battle other players). Qualified trainers can nominate a location after passing a short quiz. Others can then vote on whether or not the location should become a PokéStop or gym. The feature was available to select areas as a test, but it is now enabled worldwide.
'Pokémon Go' will let you play with your friends’ monster pals in AR
Niantic has been around for nine years now (it was originally part of Google before it spun out on its own), and the company is still going strong. A lot of that has to do with the success of Pokémon Go, as well as the recent debut of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Today, the company is making several announcements — a couple of improvements to Pokémon Go and new programs for small businesses and developers — that it hopes will fulfill its ever-growing AR ambitions.
'Pokémon Go' will introduce online battles in early 2020
Starting next year, you'll be able to put your Pokémon battle skills to the test against other players around the world. Niantic has announced a new Pokémon Go feature called Go Battle League, which builds upon Trainer Battles and enables online play. The company introduced Trainer Battles last year to give you a way to challenge nearby players, though you could also play against friends anywhere they are, as long as they in your Ultra or Best Friends lists. Go Battle League pits you against random players from all over the world through an online matching system.
