A Pikmin AR game is the next project for Pokemon Go developer Niantic

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Niantic Pikmin AR game
(Image credit: Niantic / Nintendo)

A Pikmin AR game is being developed by Pokemon Go developer Niantic.

Announced via a brief blog post from the developer explaining the project, Kei Kawai (VP of Product Management at Niantic) explained that: “Niantic and Nintendo are developing an app based on the Pikmin franchise. The app will include gameplay activities to encourage walking and make walking more delightful.”

The post also details that the app is set to launch later this year and will be the first title created by Niantic’s Tokyo studio after it was established in April 2018. Similar to Pokemon Go, the aim of the app is to interact with the Pikmin characters we all know and love in the real world with the use of augmented reality technology. Niantic also announced that those interested in the app can pre-register for it via their website. 

Nintendo’s Pikmin franchise has been laying low since the series’ latest release Pikmin 3 Deluxe on Nintendo Switch in October 2020. The series began in 2001 on the Nintendo GameCube and was created by Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto, who recently attended the grand opening of Super Nintendo World in Osaka, Japan. 

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Since then, the series has spawned three more games and maintained its unique real-time puzzle strategy gameplay style. Although each game’s story differs, the overall premise is to wrangle a horde of colorful alien-looking plant creatures and get them to complete various tasks and collect items whilst exploring the alien planet of PNF-404. 

While you wait for Niantic’s Pikmin game, take a look at our best Nintendo Switch games list

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.