Pokmon GO for Android Smartphones and iPhone Announced for 2016

At long last, an official Pokmon themed game is coming to mobile devices. After a live press event in Japan, Pokmon GO has been announced by The Pokmon Company, Nintendo, and Niantic who are collaborating to bring an interactive Pokmon experience to the real world.

Niantic known for Ingress, a MMORPG-like mobile game where players interact with real world locations, is developing Pokmon GO allowing players to catch, trade, and battle in the real world using GPS. The reveal trailer doesn’t show any gameplay and instead goes over these gameplay elements in a fantastical way, but does pin down the role of the player to viewers familiar with the Pokmon video game franchise. Pokmon GO will be free-to-play with in-app purchases and will be available to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store in 2016.

Additionally, Nintendo is developing and manufacturing a wearable band called the Pokmon GO Plus. The optional device pairs with smartphones via Bluetooth and serves to notify the player of nearby events by a flashing LED and vibrating.