Niantic thinking about Pokemon Go trading and player battles but don't hold your breath

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Pokemon Go has slowly been adding features since launch, but two major aspects of the main games are still absent: trading and trainer battles. Niantic CEO John Hanke spoke with VentureBeat recently and said that, unfortunately, there's no hard date for when we'll get to see them.

"It would be fun," Hanke said when asked about when players could expect trainer battles. "Battling is something we talk a lot about. It’ll probably make its way onto the road map, but I don’t have a specific date." The same goes for trading: it's being talked about, but don't go checking your phone for an update that adds it anytime soon.

Hanke said that if players want to get an idea of what Pokemon Go's future looks like, compare it to Niantic's other game, Ingress. "The events for Ingress are the lifeblood of the game," he said. "I think you can expect to see things like that in Pokémon Go. This type of game lends itself well to people coming together for big events that are part competitive, part social. They solidify the user base. I’m excited about what we’re planning there."

So while battling and trading are up in the air for now, it sounds like a special event may be coming soon. We still haven't seen any legitimate legendaries or Ditto, for instance. The world of mobile gaming is about as hard to see through as a field of tall grass, it would seem.

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Sam Prell
Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.