"Pokemon Go" could be releasing any time soon.
Yesterday, Niantic reportedly opened its office in Tokyo which will be lead by Setsuto Murai, an ex-Googler who previously worked at NTT, GMO and Feedburner.
This news fuels that the first Augmented Reality based game from Nintendo, Niantic and Pokemon Company possibly gets an early 2016 release as it could indicate a faster "Pokemon Go" development and create other AR based games according to video game industry expert, Dr. Serkan Toto, as noted by Gamasutra reported.
"Generally speaking, Japanese gaming companies - I mean Nintendo in this specific case - love going vertical by becoming platforms if any opportunity to do so opens up. So, it might very well be that "Pokemon" is not the only Nintendo mobile game that will make use of AR and GPS going forward."
Niantic revealed last month it received $20M upfront funding for the upcoming "Pokemon Go" game, and could receive an additional $10M when "upon achieving certain milestones," Gamespot reported.
"The Pokémon Company, Google and Nintendo are incredible investors and strategic partners to help build the next chapter for Niantic. We will be using this capital to continue the development of Pokémon GO, to evolve and grow Ingress and its thriving global community and to build out our real-world gaming platform," Niantic, Inc. CEO John Hanke said.
So far, the only information we have for the next "Pokemon" franchise it will be an AR based game for iOS and Android devices as a free-to-play in 2016 with in-app purchases.
It will also be released along with a wearable wristband called "Pokemon Go Plus" that can be connected via bluetooth which allows players to control the game through simple gestures by pressing a button on the device, Headlines and Global News reported.
Stay tuned for more "Pokemon Go" release date and news.
