Niantic Is Partnering With Nintendo To Develop New Pikmin Franchise

Nintendo and game developer Niantic have had a very successful partnership with Pokmon Go. That game has proven to be very popular, and the two companies have announced that they are partnering up to co-develop a new title based on the Pikmin franchise. Niantic has said that the game will be developed in its Tokyo office and could launch later this year.

Niantic wrote in a press release, “The app will include gameplay activities to encourage walking and make walking more delightful.” While no details on gameplay have been provided, it certainly sounds like an offshoot of the familiar Pokmon Go style of play. Pokmon Go might not be as popular as it once was, but in 2020 the game made over $1 billion in revenue.

Niantic has been quite successful as a developer raising nearly $500 million in capital with a value of $4 billion. The game will be developed using the Niantic real-world AR platform and promises to bring Nintendo’s Pikmin characters to life.

There is no indication of when the game might launch, and as with any game development project, the lunch could be delayed. Niantic’s Megan Quinn did tweet that the company was the exclusive partner for AR apps with Nintendo.