The Pokemon Company
"Pokémon Go" lets you catch, battle, and evolve Pokémon in real life.
But developer Niantic, which $4, is already thinking about what's next in the weeks and months to come, says CEO John Hanke.
All in all, it sounds like "Pokémon Go" is getting some deeper gameplay mechanics that will encourage players to stick around longer.
And for fans of the classic "Pokémon" games, there's one forthcoming feature that stands above the rest: The ability to trade your hard-collected Pokémon with friends and strangers.
"It's kind of a core element," Hanke says.
While he didn't go into specifics as to how this would work, Hanke says that trading ties in nicely with one of "Pokémon Go's" core virtues, which is that it encourages players to interact with each other in both the virtual and real worlds. Swapping Pokémon around would foster those kinds of interactions.
Augmented reality improvements
Niantic The game uses your phone's camera to make it look like you're encountering Pokemon in real life.
Right now, they only exist in their "very most basic versions," Hanke says, but players will be able to "customize their functions in other ways."
There will also be some kind of global leadership scoreboard for Pokémon players to see who's the very best, like no one ever was.
Otherwise, Hanke says that there's going to be improvements to the game's augmented reality, or AR technology, which uses your phone's camera to make it look like Pokémon are in your home, on your sidewalk, or riding your bus. He says that this was a "great first step," but there's a lot more they can do.
To that end, Hanke also hints that "Pokémon Go" could be coming to dedicated AR devices - the kinds of wearable gadgets exemplified by the failed Google Glass experiment or the $4.
"That may be a fun thing to take advantage of," Hanke teases.
With Microsoft HoloLens inching closer to a formal release, and $4, "Pokémon Go" could one day leave your phone and go straight to your eyeballs.