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Pokemon CEO claims it has only accomplished 10% of what it wants to do with Pokemon GO

Tsunekazu Ishihara talks design philosophies and Switch releases

Pokemon CEO claims it has only accomplished 10% of what it wants to do with Pokemon GO

The Pokemon Company CEO Tsunekazu Ishihara has claimed that the firm has only accomplished 10% of what it set out to do in Niantic's game Pokemon GO.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Ishihara explained that "going forward we will have to include fundamental Pokémon experiences such as Pokémon trading and peer-to-peer battles."

He also touched on certain design ideas behind the game and its location-based gameplay. He noted that it is difficult to strike a balance between placing Pokemon in areas that make thematic sense, while also allowing players to actually catch them.

"One view is to have chilly Pokémon in a cold climate, but then that would also mean that people born on a tropical island won’t be able to catch them," he said.

Future of AR

Ishitara also touched on the potential of AR, saying that "with current AR, even if you say Pikachu is there, no one really thinks that. But that reality is just one step away."

Aside from Pokemon GO, he also briefly spoke about the upcoming Pokemon game for the Switch, due to launch in 2018. Ishitara noted that unlike mobile, the Switch isn't assumed to have a constant Internet connection, which makes it more akin to a 3DS and therefore requires a similar design philosophy.

Pokemon GO has suffered some setbacks recently regarding its real-world events. A series of European events were delayed until later in 2017 following a disastrous gathering in Chicago earlier this year.


Editor

Ric is the Editor of PocketGamer.biz, having started out as a Staff Writer on the site back in 2015. He received an honourable mention in both the MCV and Develop 30 Under 30 lists in 2016 and refuses to let anyone forget about it.