Nintendo, Google, and Pokemon Invest $30 Million For Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go developer Niantic on Thursday announced that it has raised $20 million in Series A funding from a round of investors that included The Pokemon Company, Google, and Nintendo. Furthermore, the announced $20 million for Pokemon Go is just the beginning as these tech giants have also announced $10 million more if Niantic manages to reach “certain milestones”. CEO of Niantic, John Hanke stated that the funds collected will mainly be used in developing Pokemon Go while also improving Ingress and its global communities. Given the aforementioned power of the brand, it’s for this reason why it’s not shocking to hear that Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and Google have thrown quite a lot of money at the studio behind the new game.

The involvement of Nintendo and its Pokemon Company is clear to understand.

Pokemon Go is now planned for launch next year, in 2016.

The game is an augmented reality one, allowing users to venture into the “real world” to catch their own Pokémon, battle other users, and fulfill dreams of everyone ages 6 to 30.

Pokemon Go will reportedly be released sometime in 2016, and will be available for download through the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store for free. “We are all incredibly excited about the opportunity to create a product true to the spirit of the original Pokemon games while extending gameplay out into the real world”.

Pokemon Company CEO and president Tsunekazu Ishihara added: “Pokémon’s strategic investment in Niantic paves the way for a social mobile experience the world has never seen before”. Users will be assisted by a wearable Pokemon GO Plus device.