Niantic’s David Hollin Explains ‘Pokemon GO’ Rumors, Confirms Niantic Is Planning To Add Trading & PvP Features
Recent rumors and speculations regarding the famous "Pokémon GO" have been debunked, and some were clarified by Niantic's David Hollin through a short video interview with A-to-J Connections. Hollin, who is one of the game designers of "Pokemon GO" has previously hinted the exciting updates about the game, and stated that candies should be saved for future use.
On his interview (video below), Hollin explained that "save your candies" advice was purely misunderstood as it was meant for new players - which is basically the right thing to do if you are new to the game. He also stressed that Niantic would not model the game after the main series playable via Nintendo handheld consoles - Game Boy and its successors Nintendo DS/3DS), and claim that "Pokémon GO" is aiming to be "a living breathing of community players".
The augmented reality "Pokémon GO" has been criticized for having lacks of gameplay by many Pokémon fans as it seems to be completely different than the main series. The declining numbers of players have bounced back after the Generation 2 Pokémon was released into the game. Hollin, however, refused to comment if Niantic was more leaning towards the hardcore or the casual player base.
Hollin also stated that Niantic is focusing more on the gameplay features nowadays instead of introducing new Pokémon into the game, but this doesn't mean that Niantic will not be adding other Pokémon from other generations in the future. He further confirmed that in the nearest future, there will be events that players should look forward to - including trading and PvP.
"There will be events obviously tied to the calendar year and there are things on the horizon which is trading and PvP, but these are kind of more long term," he explained. Hollin appears to be holding back when mentioning about Niantic short term plans for "Pokemon GO". He also said that Niantic is not forgetting the legendary Pokémon and said that they will be "awesome".
While Hollin believes that "Pokémon GO" will be a franchise that will span many years in the future, he also did not deny that the road is not always smooth as there are a lot of demands from Pokémon fans. Hollin also said that it involves a lot of stress dealing with the fans.
"It's tough when you sort of agree with what fans want, but then you end up becoming the punching bag for them. You know, we're people too, so that's something I definitely find difficult," said the "Pokemon GO" game designer.