Tag: Niantic
News Pokémon GO Strips Away Stay-At-Home Safety Features In The Middle Of A Pandemic
Fans question the company's decision
Pokémon GO developer Niantic has announced a set of updates for the app which will strip away some of the changes made earlier this year, originally designed to keep players safe by allowing them to play at home. As of 1st October at 1pm PDT, the following changes will be made: Hatch Distance will return to...
News Pokémon GO To Lose Support For Android 5, Older iPhones And iOS Versions
October update will end support, says Niantic
The developer of Pokémon GO has announced that support for a handful of devices and platforms will be ending when a new update launches next month. Niantic confirmed in a blog post on the game's website that support will be ending for Android 5, iOS 10 and iOS 11, in addition to Apple's iPhone 5S and...
News Pokémon GO Players Call For Niantic To Disclose Loot Box Odds
It's been a problem for "years"
Pokémon GO trainers are calling for Niantic to disclose "loot box odds" in the insanely popular augmented reality game after fan site The Silph Road discovered the chance of hatching a Deino (see above) in the first three days of the latest event - Dragon Week - was likely to be less than one percent. "Deino’s...
Random Niantic Got Rian Johnson To Direct A Pokémon GO Commercial
"It was a real pleasure"
Niantic's augmented reality mobile game Pokémon GO has just turned four years old. To celebrate in style, it's teamed up with the Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Knives Out director, Rian Johnson, to produce a special commercial for Pokémon GO Fest 2020 (taking place on 25th - 26th July). Johnson describes himself as a...
News Pokémon GO Is Ending Support For Older Android Devices
Update: Niantic has now postponed this
Update (Thu 18th Jun, 2020 01:30 BST): It looks like Niantic has had second thoughts about dropping support for older Android devices in its next update. This will now be postponed until it's collected more data. Here's the important post it made on its support page: Important update (June 15, 2020): To...
News Pokémon GO Player Spending Soars As More Trainers Bunker Down
Gotta stay inside
Niantic's outdoor mobile game Pokémon GO is reportedly making even more money than it previously was now that people around the globe are locked down indoors. According to Sensor Tower data (via VentureBeat), global player spending in the game reached $23 million last week on 16th March, which was an increase of 66.7% from the...
News Niantic Updates Pokémon GO To Protect Players From The Coronavirus
Will continue until "further notice"
The COVID-19 pandemic – commonly known as the coronavirus outbreak – has already had a huge impact on the games industry. Certain games have been delayed, Switch stock is in short supply in some locations around the world, and most recently it's resulted in the
News Etika's Mural Becomes A PokéStop In Pokémon GO
"JoyconBoyz forever"
Not long after the video game YouTuber Desmond "Etika" Amofah was found deceased last year, his fans banded together and painted a large mural of him in Brooklyn. Now, to add to this, the same location has been transformed into a PokéStop within Niantic's augmented reality mobile-hit, Pokémon GO. This is all thanks to the...
News Pokémon GO Players Contact Advertising Standards Over Hidden Safari Zone Ticket Costs
Update: Niantic responds
Update (Sat 15th Feb, 2020 12:30 GMT): In response to Pokémon GO players being left frustrated at misleading ticket prices (original story below), Niantic has shared an official statement. Ticket pricing has been adjusted to reflect the hidden costs, although no apology for or explanation behind the initial pricing has been...
News Pokémon GO Just Had Its Most Successful Year Ever, Trainers Spent Nearly $900 Million
Money maker
Niantic's augmented reality game Pokémon GO has just recorded its best year ever in terms of in-game player spending. According to Sensor Tower's Store Intelligence estimates, the mobile app generated around $894 million in gross player spending in 2019. Before this, the best period for GO was the year of its launch in 2016, when it...
Random Internal Files Reveal Pokémon GO Was A Major Hassle For The Canadian Military
"taking off like gangbusters"
You've no doubt heard stories in the past about Pokémon GO players trespassing to catch 'em all, but there's never been much documented about it other than news reports and player accounts. Recently, though, Canada's national broadcaster CBC gained access to 471 pages of internal files on the subject from the...
And to "avoid stability issues"
In October, Niantic announced it would roll out the Wayfarer Tool to improve the overall experience its augmented reality games provided. This included support for the popular mobile title, Pokémon GO. It was launched a few days ago, but due to the overwhelming response from the player base, Niantic has now had to...
News Pokémon GO Is One Of The Top Grossing Games Of This Year And The Past Decade
Gotta cash 'em all
If you asked someone to name one of the most popular mobile games of the past decade, there's a good chance they might mention Niantic's augmented reality title, Pokémon GO. The game was first released in 2016 and as of October this year, surpassed $3 billion in lifetime gross revenue and has been downloaded more than 541...
News You Can Now Store 3,000 Pocket Monsters In Pokémon GO
New item capacity upgrades as well
One gripe we've had with Pokémon GO since it was released, is that there's never enough storage space for all of the Pokémon you catch and items you obtain. As more updates have been released, it's only become more difficult to store it all. With Niantic adding new Pokémon and items to the popular augmented...
News Get Ready To Take On Trainers From Around The World In The Pokémon GO Battle League
Arriving early next year
As impressive as Pokémon GO is, one thing that's been missing from it for a long time now is online battles. Player verse player matches are currently limited to local play. Fortunately, that's all set to change early next year. This "core" aspect of the Pokémon universe will be built upon in the popular augmented mobile...
News Niantic's Wayfarer Tool Allows Pokémon GO Players To Nominate And Review Points-Of-Interest
Discover new locations
Ever found yourself in an odd spot or dangerous location while playing Pokémon GO? Perhaps you're just sick of visiting the same old landmarks? Well, Niantic has announced it will soon be rolling out a new tool to help improve the overall experience in its augmented reality games. The "Niantic Wayfarer" will essentially...
Guide Where To Find Unown In Pokémon GO: All About Unown Events And Rare Wild Appearances
Why You Probably Don’t Have One, And Why You Probably Won’t Want All 28
Since its debut in the Johto region Gameboy Color games Pokémon Gold and Silver, Unown (#201), has injected an air of mystery into the series. A trans-dimensional traveller that comes in 28 forms based on the Latin Alphabet, Unown retains its mystique in Pokémon GO by...
News Niantic Pays $4m In Pokémon GO Trespassing Lawsuit, Will Introduce New Report System
Class-action lawsuit began three years ago
Pokémon GO developer Niantic will pay $4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit which was first raised against the company when the game first launched back in 2016. As you may remember, the early days of Pokémon GO's app store reign were slightly dampened with reports of dangerous play and...
Guide How To Catch Smeargle In Pokémon GO (Using GO Snapshot mode)
Ready… Say, “fuzzy Pokés”
As your collection of creatures grows in Pokémon GO, you may start to notice some conspicuous holes in your Pokédex. A select few of these missing entries won’t turn up no matter how far you walk, how many eggs you hatch or how many research tasks you complete. Smeargle is one such Pokémon, and in this guide,...
News The Legendary Rayquaza Returns To Pokémon GO For A Limited Time
You might even catch a shiny one!
On 31st July, Pokémon GO trainers around the world will be able to capture the legendary dragon/flying-type pocket monster, Rayquaza. This magnificent creature returns to Raid Battles and will be available until 2nd September. If you're really lucky, you might even encounter a shiny Raquaza, as you can see above...
News Pokémon GO Outperformed Candy Crush and Clash Royale In Its First Three Years
Expected to generate $3 billion by the end of 2019
Last weekend, Pokémon GO celebrated its third anniversary. So, what exactly has it accomplished in this amount of time? According to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data, the game has now grossed an estimated total of $2.65 billion worldwide. This covers transactions across the App Store and Google...
News Niantic Files Lawsuit Against Pokémon GO "Hackers" Helping Players To Cheat
Get Officer Jenny on the line
Ever since Pokémon GO launched back in 2016, numerous third-party apps and services have found their way online, aiming to give players an unfair advantage or to cheat the system. Aside from essentially breaking the game's infrastructure, these services can sometimes also infringe upon intellectual property rights, and...
News Get Some Shut-Eye When Pokémon Sleep Arrives Next Year
Pokémon GO Plus + also revealed
The Pokémon Company has revealed a new app titled Pokémon Sleep is in development. It promises to provide a gameplay experience unlike any other, by tracking user's sleep patterns. Select Button – the team behind Magikarp Jump – is handling this one and it's due out in 2020. More details about this app will be...
News Here's How To Reserve Your Pokémon GO Username For Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
Niantic's next mobile game
If you're a keen Pokémon GO player, you may well be excited for Niantic's next release, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Just like Pokémon GO, this new app is a real-world AR game, but this time set in the magical world of J. K. Rowling's hugely popular series. Niantic is giving players the chance to reserve their Pokémon...
News Pokémon GO Surpasses $2.5 Billion In Revenue
Gloomin' heck
Niantic's smartphone money vacuum Pokémon GO has reportedly achieved another impressive milestone, with estimates now suggesting it has surpassed a whopping $2.5 billion in revenue. The figure comes from Sensor Tower, which also reports that the game had reached $1.8 billion in revenue by its second anniversary last July. With $700...
News Pokémon GO Captured Close To $800 Million In Global Revenue Last Year
Easy money
Month after month in 2018, we heard how Pokémon GO continued raking in piles of cash and often outperforming its earnings in the previous year. Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data has now confirmed the game's revenue has grown by 35 percent over the past year, bringing in an estimated total of $795 million worldwide. Niantic's mobile...
News Pokémon GO Was A Huge Success In 2018, Thanks To Worldwide Consumer Spend
Gotta spend some more
For most of 2018, we've heard about how Niantic's AR mobile game Pokémon GO has been making a lot of money. It's all tied to the spending habits of users - with millions of dollars being spent on the game each month. So just how well has the mobile sensation performed this year? According to mobile data and analytics firm App...
News The Developer Of Pokémon GO Is Now Worth About $4 Billion
Meowth, that's right!
US-based software developer Niantic became a global phenomenon when it released the augmented reality mobile game Pokémon GO in 2016. Since then, the company hasn't looked back - continually improving the experience and building upon its own IP, while acquiring new licenses to work with at the same time. To this day, GO...
News Niantic Does Not Intend To Increase The Level Cap In Pokémon GO
Capped
US software developer Niantic launched Ingress Prime in November - a rework of its original augmented reality mobile game. At the time, the company said it was hoping the newer features in the game could eventually carry across to Pokémon GO. One feature in particular was the new prestige system, allowing players to roll back to level one...
News Here's Your First Look At Pokémon GO Dev Niantic’s Upcoming Harry Potter AR Game
Accio trailer!
Last year, Niantic – the development team behind Pokémon Go – announced it would be partnering with Warner Bros. to create a brand new augmented reality mobile game – Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Since then, it’s been deathly quiet, with virtually no news around the upcoming mobile title. However, a (brief) new teaser...
News Niantic's Rework Of Ingress Could Make Pokémon GO A Better Game
Creating technologies for every title
US software developer Niantic might be best known for Pokémon GO nowadays, but this wasn't always the case. Before the company shot to fame with its recent mobile sensation, it was focused on its own augmented reality game Ingress. With GO now nearly two-and-a-half years into its lifespan, Niantic has been able...
News Pokémon GO AR+ Is Now Supported On Android Devices
Real size Pokémon
It's easy to forget Pokémon GO is an augmented reality mobile game if you don't actually use this feature on a regular basis. Perhaps Niantic's latest news might tempt you to reactivate it, assuming you're an Android user. Following last year's iOS update which added support for the AR kit, ARCore can now be downloaded from the...
News Niantic Reports 35 Percent Increase In Active Pokémon GO Usage Since May
Social features are growing the game
The most recent Niantic blog post, predominantly focused on Pokémon GO, has revealed the mobile sensation has seen a 35 percent increase in active usage since May. Following the introduction of the new social features in June, the game has seen a boom of sorts - with 113 million friend...
News Nintendo Spends Big On Television Advertising In Month Of August To Fend Off Spider-Man
Strong marketing continues
Nintendo’s strong marketing within the domain of television advertising continues, as it is estimated to have spent $6.2 million during the month of August compared to $5.8 million during the month of July. This once again makes it the biggest spender of the month. According to GamesBeat and its partner iSpot.tv (a...
News Pokémon GO Is Allegedly Abusing Its Android Storage Read Permissions To Combat Rooting
Reading users' file names
As part of Niantic's near-constant war against cheaters, Pokémon GO has several steps in place to ban anyone who appears to have used third-party software or mods to manipulate the game. One such measure blocks all Android phones that have been rooted (when users grant themselves 'root' access to the operating...
News Pokémon GO Receiving Parental Controls Update
Playing safe
The Senior Director of Engineering at Niantic, Niniane Wang, recently made a blog post about the new parental update coming to Pokémon GO soon. The Niantic Kids Parent Portal is a new way for parents to manage the gaming experiences of their children. This is achieved by securing personal information whenever a child accesses Pokémon...
News Niantic Shows Off The Future Of Augmented Reality With New Pokémon Tech Demo
Codename: Niantic Occlusion
Augmented reality is a little hit a miss at the best of times, and its inclusion in the likes of Pokémon GO can sometimes provide varying results depending on the user's device. For some, it can cause their game to crash, and for others, it simply doesn't work at all, but even when running perfectly it can still leave a...
News Pokémon Company Profits May Be Down, But They're Still Riding The Pokémon GO Wave
$80 million is nothing to sniff at
The annual fiscal results of The Pokémon Company have been published a recent issue of the Japanese government’s Official Gazette, with net profits of US$80 million posted for the company's 20th fiscal year (which ended on 28th February). Enduring mobile mega-hit that is Pokémon GO is the main driving force...
News Mewtwo Raids Spotted At Pokémon GO Event In Japan
No sign of Mew though
Update: Mewtwo will arrive in the game for all very soon through 'Exclusive Raid Battles' - details below. In the coming weeks, you, too, will have the opportunity to battle and catch Mewtwo with the new Exclusive Raid Battle feature. Exclusive Raid Battles are similar to existing Raid Battles, with a few notable...
News Pokémon GO Getting Ready For Japanese Pikachu Outbreak Event
Japan-only Pokémon GO Deluxe Set also revealed
Further details have been revealed about the upcoming Pokémon GO "Pikachu Outbreak" event occurring in Japan this summer. Like Pokémon GO's Anniversary event (but hopefully proving to be somewhat more successful), the location will see an increased lot of PokéStops as well as access to...
News Pokémon GO Safari Zone EU Events, Originally in Early August, Pushed Back to Autumn
Other dates unaffected, though
In an update post detailing Pokémon GO's upcoming European Safari Zone events, Niantic has announced that the first two events scheduled for early August will now be delayed until the Autumn / Fall season. Originally due to take place on 5th August (Copenhagen and Prague) and August 12 (Stockholm and...
News Pokémon GO's Team Instinct Leader is Missing In Action
The Spark has gone
When reaching level five on Pokémon GO you are given the choice between joining three teams; Mystic, Valor and Instinct. An important decision for every trainer and one you can only make once; you should choose wisely as one day your team leader may just get up and leave. That's what's happened to members of team Instinct, whose...
News Pokémon GO's Legendary Pokémon Are Arriving Very Soon
It's going to be Legen...wait for it
It's what plenty of fans have been waiting for. Niantic and The Pokémon Company have revealed that after much speculation legendary Pokémon will be arriving in Pokémon GO this weekend. The trailer below shows off the recently-implemented Gym features, included Gym badges and Raids, before...
News Pokémon GO iOS 1.39.0 & Android 0.69.0 Update Rolls Out
New icons, search screen & Gym fixes
Niantic Labs has begun rolling out the latest update for Pokémon GO users worldwide. This latest update features an array of minor additions and small improvements to the core of the game, but most importantly improves upon the recent addition of Poké Gyms. One annoying problem among...
News Pokémon GO is Reportedly Targeting 'Cheaters' By Hiding Rare Pocket Monsters
Punishment by Pidgey
Pokémon GO has nearly reached its one year milestone; it's also easy to forget that, for a time, the game took over the world. The mobile augmented reality game may not be as popular as it once was, yet it still has a large and dedicated userbase. Many players, perhaps in a bid to avoid seeing the same...
News Celebrate Spring With The Pokémon GO Eggstravaganza Event
Earn more Candy for every Pokémon hatched from an Egg!
Niantic, Inc. and The Pokémon Company welcome the arrival of Spring today with Pokémon GO's next in-game celebration, the Pokémon GO Eggstravaganza. From 13th April at 9pm BST to 20th April at 9pm BST, Trainers will be able to find a greater variety of Pokémon from 2 km Eggs. Trainers will...
News Niantic and Sprint Will Be Hosting a Special Pokémon GO Press Conference Tomorrow
Gee, what could it be?
Earlier today, there was a sizable leak detailing a partnership between Starbucks and Niantic in order to promote a massive impending update for Pokémon GO. There's plenty of speculation that the aforementioned update will be adding in the Pokémon from the Johto region Pokédex, and a recent announcement seems to be fanning...
Guide How to Build a Level Ten Gym in Pokémon GO in Under an Hour
Ten monsters to a landmark
Gyms are a key part of the whole Pokémon GO experience, but you often have to spend hours or amass a giant group to effectively defend any one you may be a part of. Well, not any more! By following the strategy detailed in the video above - props to The Silph Road for discovering this - you too can make a gym level ten...
News Niantic Already Working On New Apps As Pokémon GO Passes The $440 Million Mark
"We have some projects that are in the early stages now"
Niantic has gone from being a near-unknown to one of the most famous developers on the planet thanks to the astonishing success of Pokémon GO, the monster-catching smartphone app which the company developed in conjunction with The Pokémon Company. Niantic's previous release, Ingress, laid...
News Niantic Developers Elaborate More on the Design of Pokémon Go
Many lessons have been learned from Ingress
As many of you likely remember, a location based multiplayer game called Pokémon Go was announced earlier this year for smart devices. The game will aim to place virtual Pokémon in the world around you, and place you in the shoes of an aspiring Pokémon Trainer. You'll be able to catch, trade, and battle...
