Niantic to make Nintendo AR mobile games
First project of new partnership will be a walking-oriented Pikmin game set to launch later this year
Niantic and Nintendo today announced a deal that will see the Pokémon Go developer making mobile games using the Switch maker's stable of characters.
The first game from the partnership will be a Pikmin game intended to encourage walking among its userbase. It is the first game from Niantic Tokyo Studio, and is expected to launch globally later this year.
"Niantic's AR technology has made it possible for us to experience the world as if Pikmin are secretly living all around us," Nintendo representative director Shigeru Miyamoto said.
"Based on the theme of making walking fun, our mission is to provide people a new experience that's different from traditional games. We hope that the Pikmin and this app will become a partner in your life."
This month marks six years since the announcement of Nintendo's last big partnership in mobile, a pact with DeNA that produced a number of games including Mario Kart Tour, Super Mario Run, and Fire Emblem Heroes.
While the partnership produced some successes, it did not live up to early expectations, and last year Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company was "not necessarily looking to continue releasing many new applications for the mobile market."