For the Pokémon GO fans out there who like to take advantage of the game’s AR features, some exciting news has come in regarding some upcoming new features utilizing the technology.
Earlier yesterday, Niantic announced their plans to expand Pokémon GO’s multiplayer offerings with a new feature they’ve dubbed “Buddy Adventure.” From their description, Buddy Adventure acts similarly to the game’s current AR photo mode — you choose a “Buddy,” that being one of your Pokémon, and you set them out into the world to take photos of them in real time.
What’s different about this feature is that it will allow you to sync your experience to a friend, so that you and your friend can see and even interact with each other’s Pokémon, as well as your own.
The feature is still under development and not a lot of gameplay details have been shared past the fact that you’ll be able to feed berries, pet, and take pictures of your and your friends’ Pokémon. Additionally, it hasn’t been stated how many friends this feature can accommodate at quite yet, but Niantic did stress that’s it meant to be an experience shared between smaller groups of friends.
Buddy Adventure will also work in tandem with Niantic’s evolving AR technology, which is planned to have characters be able to interact more realistically with the world — such as go behind walls and avoid walking on water.
Niantic also announced that its Niantic Wayfarer tool will be coming to the app. This tool is effectively becoming the widely distributed Poké Stop nomination feature that’s slowly been rolling out in several countries over the past months, allowing players to fill out the Pokémon GO map with real-world locations and landmarks. Starting next week, players around the world will be able to nominate new landmarks to be featured in the game… just as long as they’re Level 40.
Finally, it looks like Niantic has expanded their sponsorship opportunities to small and medium-sized businesses, on top of the larger corporations they’ve partnered with in the past, like Samsung, Starbucks, and McDonald’s. Titled the Niantic Sponsored Locations program, it will launch in December of this year and offer smaller businesses the same perks as larger sponsored companies get for having Poké Stop and Gym locations.
As stated earlier, the Niantic Wayfarer tool will be available to Pokémon GO players starting next week, but more details and a launch date surrounding the Buddy Adventure feature are yet to be heard. Keep checking back for more information!
Leave a Comment
Written by George Comatas
As a wannabe social media personality and professional in the world of sarcasm, George does his best to always adapt to the changing world around him. He considers himself a maverick: a true-to-heart gamer with the mind of a pop star. Whether this makes him revolutionary or a setback, he's yet to find out. But one thing’s for sure; he's one-of-a-kind.
