Niantic announced plans for a major overhaul of its highly popular GPS-based game Pokemon Go, which includes map updates and new visuals.
Pokemon Go is already nearing its eighth anniversary, which will be this July, and the game's developer just announced the "Rediscover Go" campaign. It is the planned major overhaul that will almost completely change the game as players know it today.
Major Overhaul for Pokemon Go
(Photo : Niantic / Screenshot taken from official website)
The website for the game also provided a few details regarding what the newly announced campaign will include. These are changes to the map, customization options, and the Snapshot function. There was also a brief trailer that showcased changes with scenes at a beach, in a forest, and more.
It also promises a "fresh new look with updates to the in-game map, encounter screens, battle screens, and more-all tailored to your location" as part of the Rediscover Go update. Niantic will slowly provide more information regarding this over the next three weeks as the update of information is set for an Apr. 17, 2024, release, according to GameSpot.
The upcoming Snapchat feature will also let players take pictures of up to three Pokemon at a time. The avatar customization on the other hand and the Style Shop will give you "more options than ever before."
There are also two other tabs, the Rediscover Kanto and Rediscover Your Reality, of which no information has been released so far. The former is scheduled for Apr. 22, 2024, while the latter is scheduled for May 7, 2024.
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Despite the teases, it is still unclear when the major overhaul will actually go live in the full game and comes as the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and Samsung Galaxy Store all show updated screenshots, said NintendoWire.
The Rediscover Kanto update will let players find Pokemon that were first discovered in Kanto, which is the first region that fans of the franchise were able to explore. The teaser image for the update also suggests that players should expect some golden oldies to proliferate in-game, including Bulbasaur, Vileplume, and Butterfree.
A Lot of New Content and Changes
On the other hand, the Rediscover Your Reality will let players add AR Pokemon to their own photos. This area of technology has improved significantly since 2019 and many fans are hoping for a major upgrade.
Players who are in Australia may also be able to play the upcoming update much earlier as the Pokemon Go website says, "Certain Trainers in Australia may begin to see the update within the coming weeks."
The game was first released in 2016 but reached its peak during the coronavirus pandemic thanks to the 2020 lockdowns. While Pokemon Go has seen a steady drop in the number of players since then, it still sits within the top 10 game charts for revenue for both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, according to The Standard.
Despite not being as popular as it once was, Pokemon Go remains an excellent, easy-to-play, mobile-friendly spinoff of Nintendo's classic monster-catching franchise that also revolutionized the Augmented Reality genre.
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