Pokémon GO developer Niantic launching augmented reality basketball game with NBA

Pokémon GO developer Niantic has announced a partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) to develop an augmented reality basketball game. 

Titled NBA All-World, Niantic says the game will “place NBA fans into the real-world metaverse”. 

Geolocation technology will be incorporated into the game, allowing players to challenge one another in one-on-one matches at their neighbourhood courts and other locations using swipe-based commands. 

Leaderboards will be also included for players to compete to be the best at a particular location on the map. 

Marcus Matthews, senior producer at Niantic said: “NBA All-World represents an industry first in sports games, as an original, real-world AR game that will appeal to casual and core NBA fans alike.

“We’re creating and designing a game that empowers players to represent where they’re from and showcase the culture of their neighbourhood.”

The game will also enable players to collect star NBA players by encountering and beating them on the map. 

Their avatars can then be customised through picking up items which can be found at basketball courts and sporting goods stores in real life. 

This will be achieved using a database of “hundreds of thousands” of real-life courts and other basketball-playing locations, said Marcus. 

According to Niantic, the game will also feature location-based storytelling elements based on the hometown of NBA stars as well as mini games such as three-point contests.

NBA All-World is expected to launch on both iOS and Android during the next NBA season starting this October. 

Those who are interested can pre-register online for a chance to play the game before its official release.