A player catches Metapod on Pokémon GO in the public (Photo : YouTube / UnlistedLeaf)
Niantic CEO John Hanke revealed that players will really have to travel more if they do want to "catch 'em all" as Pokémon GO will scatter all the Pokémon across the world.
In addition, Hanke said that Pokémon GO will mostly be a social experience which means that players will have to interact with others at some point or another. Niantic's Ingress has been successful because of their unique geolocation mechanic that the new game is based on.
Just like in Ingress, players will be forced to walk around their neighborhood or to travel to nearby landmarks if they want to catch certain kinds of Pokémon. It will be unlike the Pokémon titles on their consoles with a linear experience.
Hanke told Polygon in an interview that Pokémon GO players will not need to "collect all of them" in order to enjoy the game and to beat other players. A player can just polish his or her current team to take on gym leaders and to make progress in the mobile AR game without having to catch an absurd amount of Pokémon.
That could be a problem for hardcore fans of the franchise if they want to catch every kind out there. A Pikachu could be present in most cities but a Dratini could be rarer and could require players to travel to distant islands just to catch one.
There is also the problem with the limited cell data signals. Some players already think that caves would be their best bet in finding rare Pokémon but the remote location itself could mean that they would not be able to connect to the Internet or even capture a proper GPS signal.
Pokémon GO will also make use of the Pokémon GO Plus companion hardware, Siliconera reported. It would allow the player to harvest items and to check whether there is a nearby Pokémon without having to turn the smartphone's screen frequently to save battery life.
Niantic and the Pokémon Company have not yet revealed an official release date for Pokémon GO. However, most players are already expecting it to hit the Android and iOS platform starting in July through their app stores.
