Tatsuo Nomura disclosed more details about the upcoming trading feature for Pokemon GO.
The location-based augmented reality mobile game proved to be a huge success from the moment it reached the market. On February 27th, 2017, the developer of the product Niantic Labs announced that the game had been downloaded over more than 650 million times and last year it was the most searched title on Google. Sensor Tower estimated that within seven months since its release, the company managed to reach a revenue of $1 billion which puts Pokemon GO at the top of the list of fastest growing mobile games. As of recently, the developer started to talk about a new trading feature.
Pokemon GO developer Niantic Labs has just launched the Gen 2 update, and it is now focused on new implementations. The senior product manager Tatsuo Nomura stated that the trading feature was something the company planned for a long time ago, but they are precocious about its release. Nonetheless, the company does intend to introduce the trading feature in the market, but the date is not decided yet.
According to Tatsuo Nomura, players won’t be able to initiate trades online. Instead, the game pushes more towards community and social interaction. Thus, players have to be close to each other to be able to exchange their Pokemons. The feature will have the old school feeling of the act of exchanging cards only this time they are digital.
The trading feature will also solve probably the only issue that such a game based on location could have. Certain Pokemons usually spawn themselves in certain areas only. Thus, national collections of such characters are different from one another. Tatsuo Nomura claimed that with the new feature, players could overcome this gap and enrich their list of beloved characters to the maximum of 151 fictional creatures. Thus, from now on, players will have one more reason to visit their friends in other countries and go sightseeing while socializing with their pals.
On the other hand, Nomura acknowledged the fact that such an update has the power to offer but also to take a lot. If producers don’t play this card right, the mobile game might crumble altogether. Many other productions make everything possible to turn away from trading. There are several reasons to follow this path. First of all, this can deprive the players of the sense of achievement when they manage to earn rewards with difficulty. This way, they might lose interest in the end. Secondly, there is always the chance for the commerce to slip into a black market.
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