Pokemon GO
John Hanke, creator of Pokemon Go and Chief Executive Officer of Niantic gestures during his keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 28, 2017. Reuters/Paul Hanna

Many are already aware of the fact that Niantic is bringing the Legendary Pokemon to “Pokemon GO.” They will reportedly be in by the end of the year. Most of the Pokemon are going to be rare and one of a kind.

In an interview with WIRED, Niantic CEO John Hanke said that “Pokemon GO” will receive new Pokemon by this year’s end. Some of the critters to be released did not make their way to the game either from Gen 1 or Gen 2. Even after 80 new Pokemon were added, that update did not introduce all Gen 2 creatures. When the game released, even many Gen 1 Pokemon were missing. It will be interesting to see how Hanke will fit the Legendaries in the game, keeping the world of “Pokemon GO” in mind and also thousands of players.

Hanke did not reveal which Pokemon would make their way to the game. Legendary birds such as Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres exist as one each in the world of Pokemon. Things have generally cooled down since “Pokemon GO” was released. Adding Legendaries to the game will fuel interest once more. Moreover, Hanke wants people to participate in arena battles and not just catch Pokemon. The game’s technology is being made more robust and now it is possible to focus on new features.

Due to limited gameplay in arenas, “Pokemon GO” players have given arena battles a miss. Niantic is working on this aspect of the game so that there is more teamwork involved and more incentives and rewards. Meanwhile, players are increasingly complaining about the new evolution items that are hard to come by. According to Mic, a player, who goes by the name jdero on /r/TheSilphRoad, visited 9,158 PokeStops to collect every single evolution item.

Now, this is bad news for “Pokemon GO” enthusiasts, who would be turned away by the sheer number of PokeStops he has to visit to collect Evolution Items. Every player expects Niantic to do something about this frustratingly low rate of collecting special items. Niantic has also reportedly gotten into a deal with companies such as Sprint. Their retail stores will be turned into Gyms and PokeStops. This will also encourage players to visit these stores for power-ups and challenges.

Hanke wants to foster awareness of cultural and historical landmarks that may otherwise go unnoticed. The technology is also get people walking outside. Stay tuned on IBT AU for more information on “Pokemon GO” upcoming updates.

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