'Pokémon GO' Game Updates: Devs Tease More Major Patches to Arrive This Year
Niantic Labs teased "Pokémon GO" trainers that more major updates are going to launch within this year.
One of the biggest networks of "Pokémon GO" trainers called The Silph Road was present during the keynote address of Niantic Labs chief John Hanke at the recently concluded Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. The group provided a live feed update through Reddit.
According to their report, Hanke confirmed that the studio's 2017 roadmap for "Pokémon GO" consists of three major updates including the one that was released last month where 80 Generation 2 monsters from the Johto region were added to the mobile app's roster.
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However, Hanke did not elaborate on what will be included in the remaining two major updates. The Niantic Labs boss also did not mention anything about their timetable or when trainers should expect the arrival of the remaining patches.
BGR noted that this is not the first time Hanke talked about major updates for "Pokémon GO" this year. The report cited Hanke's interview with Waypoint earlier in February were he hinted at a new trading game mode and a player-versus-player battle system.
The Silph Road shared that Hanke, instead, discussed several milestones for "Pokémon GO" that the studio achieved by sealing partnerships with a number of companies around the world. Niantic Labs have reportedly acquired partnerships to further promote the hit augmented reality game and make it even more accessible in several ways.
The Niantics Labs boss reportedly mentioned about their studio's partnerships: one with a local telecommunications company in the Philippines known as Globe; another with Unibail that operates malls across Europe; and another one with network carrier Jio which is based in India that initially opened 2,000 PokéStops with 9,000 more to follow.
Back in December 2016, Niantic Labs partnered with Starbucks and Sprint that led to the opening of tens of thousands of new PokéStops and Gyms across the U.S.
In February, aside from the 80 additional monsters, Niantic Labs added new Berries for more complex Pokémon catching strategies. However, shortly after the release of last month's update, reports quickly surfaced that gamers have been experiencing an issue that freezes or crashes the app.
