Niantic CEO Pokemon Go 2017
2017 Update plans, Legendary Pokemon, cheating, missing features
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2017 Update plans, Legendary Pokemon, cheating, missing features
Recently Wired’s German division was able to conduct an interview with Niantic CEO John Hanke. Hanke took the time to address many topics and issues at the fronts of trainer’s minds today. He first took a crack at addressing a rework in the gym battles and allowing for a more collaborative Pokemon Go user experience.
“There are a couple of areas that need to be improved – one of them being playing together and gym battles. We released those in an incomplete state. We knew from Ingress that cooperation and planning can be a lot of fun. When people have a common goal, then that’s a strong incentive to meet up with friends or even with people you don’t know.”
“The gameplay in gym battles is very limited. They just don’t work as well as we wish they would. We will overhaul this aspect of the game to ensure more teamwork and to give people a bigger incentive to receive the rewards from gym battles.”
He then addressed a few other updates players are eagerly awaiting. Those updates mainly revolve around the appearance of one of Pokemons eagerly awaited game features fans have long been waiting for, Legendary Creatures. Hanke reassured everyone that we should be seeing more of the likes of Mewtwo, Mew, and the Legendary Birds.
Another topic at the tips of everyone’s fingers is GPS Spoofing. Hanke directly addressed the GPS Spoofing trick so players do not have to leave their homes. Hanke stated the following:
“I don’t think it’s the user’s fault when an app or a website offers him a shortcut. It’s our responsibility to prevent those things or to not make them harder than they currently are.”
“I wish they wouldn’t do it. Through cheating, they’re not allowing themselves to experience the game to its fullest. The reward of Pokemon GO is being active and getting to see places you normally wouldn’t see.”
The last thing the Niantic CEO address was the concern in the lack of features. He made people aware that the main rational for the problem was due to funding.
“When we left Google, we had a limited amount of money, a funding of 35 million dollars. We had a fairly large team and a relatively short amount of time. We worked a long time on it and eventually that just exhausts people. We felt it was time to get noticed.”
John Hanke did us a great favor by addressing many of the trainers concerns around Pokemon Go 2017. We can’t wait to see what is in store for trainers this year and look forward to many long awaited new features, and Pokemon! Thanks John for taking the time to sit down and discuss these questions with Wired for us! We are extremely happy that you and Niantic are taking steps towards participating more in the media, and becoming more vocal yourselves in the Pokemon Go community.
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