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Niantic is
talking with several companies interested in partnerships
similar to the deal that turned nearly 3,000 McDonald's
restaurants in Japan <2702.T> into stops for collecting virtual
supplies or "gyms" for on-screen battles, Niantic Chief
Executive John Hanke said.
Paid sponsorships can reduce the company's reliance on in-app
purchases by players to generate revenue, Hanke said at the
GamesBeat 2016 conference.
"It's tough to understand where you want to draw the line,"
Hanke said. By adding sponsorships, the company felt "we
wouldn't have to cave to that pressure to just dial it up a
little more."
Pokemon Go exploded after its introduction in the United States
on July 6, sending players into city streets, offices, parks and
restaurants to search for colorful animated characters.
The smartphone game uses augmented reality and Google mapping to
make animated characters appear in the real world. Players see
creatures overlaid on the nearby landscape that they see through
a mobile phone camera.
The game has been downloaded more than 100 million times,
according to analytics company App Annie, and earns more than
$10 million in daily revenue.
Japanese company Nintendo Co <7974.T> owns a large stake in the
game's publisher, The Pokemon Company, and has seen its stock
price surge after the runaway success of Pokemon Go.
The game also has prompted safety warnings after players glued
to their phones stumbled, were robbed or wandered into dangerous
places.
Hanke said he is eager for devices that will help people to be
more alert about their surroundings while playing the game.
Nintendo is developing a device that can be worn on the wrist
and alerts players when a Pokemon creature is nearby. The
company had planned to debut the product in July but postponed
its launch until September.
Wearable devices that work with augmented reality "will give
people a way to play the game and not look at their phone all
the time and look around them at the interesting places we are
trying to help them discover," Hanke said.
"I'm very excited about investing in that area, about building
prototypes and bringing our gaming products to that hardware as
it comes to market," he said.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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