Niantic’s latest project has long been known to be Pokemon GO, a game which has already begun beta testing in Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. The beta test, dubbed, “field testing” by Niantic, started accepting sign-ups for wannabe U.S. Pokemon GO players just over a week ago, and today they have officially announced that invites to be a field tester for the game are beginning to hit the inboxes for U.S. individuals. As expected, the field testing is limited so there probably aren’t going to be hundreds of thousands of players hitting the streets of their local towns and cities searching for Pokemon to capture. Unfortunately, there is no mention of how many people will be accepted into the test, so if you showed interest in participating by signing up, you’ll want to keep an eye on your email inbox with the account you used. It’s also worth noting that the game is still in active development so field testers may experience something different once the final version of the game launches
In addition to today’s announcement about live U.S. beta testing for the game, Niantic, and The Pokemon Company have also shared new details about the gameplay. The new details focus partially on battle mechanics as battling other players and Pokemon will be an essential part of the game as it is in other Pokemon content. When a battle begins, players will be able to dodge attacks by swiping left or right on the screen, all while also performing their own attacks in an attempt to come out as the victor. During Gym battles, defeating the Pokemon which defend that Gym will reduce its “prestige” level and eventually allow attacking players to gain control.
Once a Gym is taken over by the opposing team, Pokemon can be assigned to defend the Gym alongside other Pokemon from the same team, at which point they can train together to raise the level and prestige of the Gym. As defending appears to be a big part of the Gym status, you’ll want to have a full roster of Pokemon defending the Gyms that your team controls at all times, and the higher the level of that Gym, the more Pokemon that can be assigned to defend it. It would seem that Field Testing invites are continuing to roll out throughout the day, so there is still a possibility for users to get an invite if they haven’t already received one.
