Pokémon Go is a huge hit, there’s no other way to look at it. The game has made the news, clogged up Facebook feeds and become the talk of the mobile and game industries within days of launching. Ask just about any user who plays the original Pokémon games that started on Nintendo’s Game Boy in the 1990s, however, and they’ll tell you that the app is incredibly sparse on features compared to a traditional Pokémon game. Pokémon contests, breeding, two-on-two battles, and even basics like one-on-one fights and trading are sorely missing. John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, responsible for Pokémon Go and the Ingress game that it’s built on, is quite aware of the issue.
Updates to the game are reportedly coming in the next few weeks that will up the ante on the already substantial user interaction that the game fosters. Taking and keeping gyms, hunting down rare Pokémon in the area and even forming hunting parties to sweep entire city blocks is already bringing together cities and communities of people who would otherwise pass each other by without a second glance, but soon, you’ll also find yourself asking and being asked about Pokémon available for trade. While a Pokémon that appears for one person in an area will generally appear for everybody, people of different levels or using incense may see some that others don’t. Likewise, your neighbor may commute to a city where Charmander are common, while you commute to a city where Squirtle wander freely. In this instance, trading can be a big step toward catching ’em all.
Updates in the near future will also bring improvements to the augmented reality features of the game, though details were close to absent on exactly what improvements will come and how they will affect gameplay. Things like camera stabilization, extra sensor utilization and obstacle sensing to avoid Pokémon stuck in walls are all features that come to mind, but nothing was made official at this time. Leaderboards were also mentioned, but like the other new features coming into the fray, only the most basic of information was given. It’s not hard to imagine a worldwide leaderboard being accompanied by a local one, showing the strongest trainers in the area and what gyms they call home.