Pokemon GO set to massively expand in India as Niantic introduces 5,00,000 new PokeStops

Niantic, the developer and publisher of Pokemon GO, has announced its initiative to expand its footprint across India with the induction of 5,00,000 new PokeStops.

Pokemon GO is arguably one of the most famous games on mobile devices. The game implements Augmented Regality technology to turn the real world into the world of Pokemon, where Trainers can catch, train and battle iconic Pokemon from the franchise’s history.

Over the last five years, Pokemon GO has increased exponentially across the world and has brought the franchise to a new generation of fans. Building upon that, Niantic is all set to expand across India with 5,00,000 new PokéStops and Gyms by 2 February 2022.

---

Niantic is expanding its footprint in India

Pokemon GO was released in India back in December 2016 and immediately accumulated massive success, based on the already existing fandom for the popular Japanese video game and anime franchise. Since then, with Niantic’s support in bringing the different generations of Pokemon as well as new features, the game has grown severalfold across the country.

With Niantic’s initiative, Pokemon GO will not only expand its access across new towns and cities times three, but it will also give players access to Powered-Up Pokestops and Gyms, which will open up the opportunity for Trainers to get better rewards in exchange for submitting AR Scans at the location.

Speaking on the initiative, Omar Tellez, the Vice President of Niantic, said,

We believe India has a vast opportunity given its rapid ascent in mobile gaming, improved technology penetration, improved socio-economic indicators, and a young aspirational population.

"We want to bring the best game experience to our Trainers in India, which is the key objective of introducing more PokéStops and Gyms. We will continuously work to be sure the Trainers in India enjoy our game for a long time.

"Countries and regions like India are where we see the next 100 million players coming from."

Over the last year, Niantic has been hosting different events in Pokemon GO, from the “Festival of Lights” to celebrate Diwali to the “Festival of Colors” on the occasion of Holi.