In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review, developer of the wildly successful augmented reality mobile game Pokémon GO Niantic has hinted at potentially releasing a new device. The device, like the already released Pokémon GO Plus, will be designed with safety in mind.
Tsunekazu Ishihara, who is president of Pokémon GO co-developer The Pokémon Company says the reason why Pokémon GO became so popular is because it’s a smartphone app, and the market has much more reach in comparison to the console market. The mass appeal of the game meant players in their 20s and 30s where able to rediscover a franchise from their childhood, and players in their 50s and 60s were able to discover the world of smartphone gaming.
Pokémon GO was built with the intention of being played outside, but there have been occasions where players being too invested in the game resulted in accidents. The Pokemon Company plans to collaborate with Nintendo on concocting a new device that will further raise safety awareness, expected for release sometime in 2018.
