Perhaps one of the most anticipated features for Pokémon GO is the ability to trade lesser-loved pocket monsters with friends, family and strangers alike; however, players hoping for features similar to the Global Trade Station made famous in the main series Pokémon games to eventually find their way to mobile platforms might be disappointed to learn that Pokémon GO’s developers don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.
In an interview with Polygon at the Game Developers Conference today, Niantic’s senior product manager, Tatsuo Nomura, stated that “[trading] won’t be through the internet” because exchanging Pokémon with someone 100 miles away from a player doesn’t fully vibe with the real-life social interactions Niantic wishes to prioritize with the app.
That isn’t to say trading between friends in close proximity isn’t in development or being considered, but simply that online trading remains at odds with the developer’s vision of getting players together in person.
In fact, Nomura iterates the importance of trading to the catch-‘em-all experience of Pokémon GO, emphasizing that they’re still working on an answer that makes sense and doesn’t completely kill the appeal of the game.
Polygon states players should expect some form of trading implementation later this year once developers are confident they’ve got the feature nailed down.
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Written by Matthew Weidner
When it comes to playing and writing about video games, Matthew aspires to be the very best, like no one ever was. Writing for Nintendo Wire and the thought of one day finally achieving a perfect, no death Super Meat Boy run fills him with determination.
