Nintendo and Niantic Are Bringing Pikmin To AR

Pokemon Go developer Niantic will partner with Nintendo to bring more of its franchises into augmented reality titles.

The first game to get the AR treatment will be a mobile Pikmin title, and will be launching later in 2021.

Nintendo and Niantic Are Bringing Pikmin To AR

Designed to “encourage walking and make walking more delightful,” a press release explains, the game will leverage technology from Pokemon Go.

“Niantic’s AR technology has made it possible for us to experience the world as if Pikmin are secretly living all around us,” Nintendo director Shigeru Miyamoto said.

“Based on the theme of making walking fun, our mission is to provide people a new experience that’s different from traditional games. We hope that the Pikmin and this app will become a partner in your life.”

The game will be developed by Niantic's Tokyo Studio, and marks its first project since it was created in April 2018.

The head of the studio, Tasuo Nomura, explained that "it's going to be very different from Poémon [sic] GO" in a tweet.

Nintendo has had mixed fortunes in the mobile space. While Niantic's Pokemon Go is a juggernaut, the company's own franchises, including Fire Emblem Heroes and even Mario Kart Tour have disappointed (via Bloomberg).

As for Pikmin, the colourful characters made their debut back in 2001, but the recent Switch port of Pikmin 3 opened the game up to an entirely new audience.