Pokémon GO Release Date Update: Game May Feature Microtransactions

By Jenn Loro - 05 Apr '16 10:07AM

Last September, Pokémon and Nintendo jointly announced the release of Pokémon Go which a whole new wave of excitement among fans who are anxiously waiting to battle each other's pocket monsters in an entirely different setting.

So far, we have already a seen a number of uploaded videos on YouTube that give us a sneak peek into what the augmented reality game looks like. The latest roundup from the world's largest video sharing platform is giving a rare treat of Pokémon Go's unique features.

In what is believed to be an uploaded video sample of Pokémon Go's gameplay leaked online, we have seen the game bringing up a list of Pokeball to catch Ivysaur as reported by The BitBag. The question looming on everyone's mind is whether a currency will be used to acquire the target Pokémon. The game hasn't revealed much but it does give us an idea that a likelihood of microtransaction is pretty high.

The concept of microtransaction has long been floating around rumor land but has been neither confirmed by Pokémon Company nor by Nintendo and Niantic. If such gameplay does proceed as many people have long suspected, a profit-based gameplay is unlikely to make the Niantic game unique among handheld games.

However, one observer on Reddit that goes by the name of IamNeko suggested that Niantic's Ingress may offer a "decent model for microtransactions." Drawing from such example, the game developers may have also thought of incorporating a similar system for Pokémon Go.

The redditor further noted that "'Pokémon GO!' players may be required to drop money to keep their Pokémon character active. It is also possible that a pay-to-win system will be introduced in 'Pokémon GO,'" as quoted in a report by KPopStarz.

In another related development, Niantic is reportedly sending invites to a number of testers for the initial wave of beta testing in Japan according to a latest update from Christian Today. Upon receiving email notification, upcoming testers are told that they will be sent off to designated locations where they will be given the ultimate treat of playing the game firsthand before everyone else does.

It's not certain and yet to be confirmed about the Pokemon GO release date, information introduced so far is that the game will be available on iOS and Android in 2016.