Niantic Labs, best known for their widely popular augmented reality mobile game, Pokémon Go, just announced that they're going to work together with Nintendo to create multiple brand-new augmented reality titles based on existing Nintendo franchises. Be Prepared to See More AR Games The joint partnership will reportedly see Niantic work their magic to create multiple AR titles for Nintendo. The first of which is a new AR game based on the real-time strategy and puzzle video game series, Pikmin, and it's set to release sometime later this year.
The Pikmin franchise is one of Nintendo's lesser-known series. It was developed by Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Nintendo's most popular franchise, Mario. The series stars cute and colorful plant-like creatures that players can control.
The upcoming AR game based on Pikmin will reportedly see these creatures appear in the real world via AR. In a similar manner to Pokémon Go, the game will help "encourage walking and make the activity more enjoyable," as explained by Niantic Labs in their announcement.
This is not the first time that Niantic Labs and Nintendo have worked together.
As we mentioned earlier, Niantic made a name for themselves with Pokémon Go. The said AR game, which was released in 2016, was made in collaboration with The Pokémon Company. Nintendo is a part-owner of that company.
Niantic has also had a hand in several AR titles released since making Pokémon Go. Other new AR games that they've worked with based on popular licenses include Settler of Catan and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. However, the former has yet to be released.