Pokemon Go to offer up sponsored locations, while T&Cs reveal a possible leap to VR
The future of Pokémon Go, the game widely accredited with bringing augmented reality to the mainstream, could be in the realm of virtual reality – while marketers may soon be able to cash in on its success via sponsored locations.
Pokémon Go is not yet available (legally) in the UK
John Hanke, the chief executive of the game’s developer Niantic, confirmed to the New York Times that the company will be announcing details of sponsored locations in the future. These locales will be sure to draw in players looking for the game’s Pokestops, Pokeballs and gyms.
Some fire has been thrown at Pokemon Go since it launched its first version in the US and Australia last week for sending eager players to dangerous and inappropriate places in order to catch ‘em all. These have included private property, the middle of the sea and even the Holocaust museum in Auschwitz.
The web’s rumour mill has speculated that these bizarre locations have been locked down due to Pokemon Go’s use of GPS data from Ingress, another AR-led game created by Niantic. Ingress is notorious for locating stops in deliberately difficult to reach places.
In other news, the game’s in-app T&Cs include a section on licenses, which include a list of open source software and third party libraries that went into the making of the game, Business Insider reported.
Affordable VR hardware Google Cardboard is listed as the first of these external partners, sparking speculation that the game’s developers are eyeing up a break into the virtual reality space.
This would be an interesting move, as Pokemon Go looks to establish itself as a game that to be played in real life surroundings thanks to the beauty of augmented reality.
However the Google link is not be so surprising: the search giant owns a stake in Niantic.