Niantic CEO Says We Will See Legendary Pokémon Added To Pokémon GO This Year

Niantic’s CEO John Hanke recently participated in an interview with the German division of Wired, during which he spoke about the company’s plans for Pokémon GO in 2017. Among the topics discussed, Hanke touched on what players could look forward to with the mobile app’s next big update, Legendary Pokémon, and also addressed the issue of some players cheating. [Thanks, NintendoEverything.]

First off, Hanke confirmed that two major features of the game that would be getting improved with Pokémon GO’s second big update this year. He said:

“There are a couple of areas that need to be improved – one of them being playing together and gym battles. We released those in an incomplete state. We knew from Ingress that cooperation and planning can be a lot of fun. When people have a common goal, then that’s a strong incentive to meet up with friends or even with people you don’t know.”

“The gameplay in gym battles is very limited. They just don’t work as well as we wish they would. We will overhaul this aspect of the game to ensure more teamwork and to give people a bigger incentive to receive the rewards from gym battles.”

Hanke also addressed the countless fan requests for Legendary Pokémon such as Mewtwo, Mew, and the Legendary Bird trio of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres to be added to the game, saying “I can say with certainty that we will see more of that this year.”

Hanke then went on to discuss the matter of cheating in Pokémon GO, specifically the usage of certain apps that allow players to trick their GPS and allow them to play from home without having to go outside:

“I don’t think it’s the user’s fault when an app or a website offers him a shortcut. It’s our responsibility to prevent those things or to not make them harder than they currently are.”

“I wish they wouldn’t do it. Through cheating, they’re not allowing themselves to experience the game to its fullest. The reward of Pokémon GO is being active and getting to see places you normally wouldn’t see.”

Pokémon GO is available for iOS and Android.