- The initiative commenced on 15th December 2021 and will conclude by 2nd February 2022
- Niantic, through its Wayfarer program, will enrich the PokeStops through its robust Trainer community
- The initiative is in-line with its India growth strategy
Niantic, the developer and publisher of Pokemon GO, announced the induction of 5,00,000 PokeStops and Gyms across India by 2nd February 2022. The initiative would expand the access and experience of Pokemon GO across new towns and cities by 3 times.
Along with the update, Trainers will also be able to access the new Powered-Up PokeStops feature. The feature is available on certain PokeStops and Gyms and will allow Trainers to get better rewards in exchange for submitting AR Scans at the location.
Commenting on the initiative, Omar Tellez, Vice President, Niantic, said, “We believe India has a vast opportunity given its rapid ascent in mobile gaming, improved technology penetration, improved socio-economic indicators and a young aspirational population. We want to bring the best game experience to our Trainers in India, which is the key objective of introducing more PokeStops and Gyms. We will continuously work to be sure the Trainers in India enjoy our game for a long time. Countries and regions like India are where we see the next 100 million players coming from.”
Niantic has dialled up its India strategy in the past 12 months. Recently, it concluded the inaugural edition of Festival of Lights, a global in-game event in Pokemon GO during Diwali week. At the same time, the game celebrated the Holi-inspired event earlier this year with the Festival of Colors. Niantic has also hired talent in the country and is now firming up its future growth strategy to capitalise upon the world’s leader in mobile gaming.
