Slowly but surely, Niantic is turning Pokemon Go into the game we all hoped it would be at launch. Over the past two years, the developer has introduced raid battles, weather effects, AR+ mode, research missions, and trading, as well as dozens of new Pokemon from Generations 2 and 3. The only major feature still missing is the ability to battle one-on-one with other players, but a recent interview suggests PvP could be right around the corner.
Speaking with Polish website Gram last week, Niantic product marketing head Anne Beuttenmüller revealed that the team wants to add PvP battles to the game before the end of 2018. Although the interview was mostly focused on the upcoming debut of Ingress Prime, Beuttenmüller did answer a few Pokemon Go questions.
“Now we are working on the PvP mode, which will soon appear,” Beuttenmüller said when asked about the features that would be added to the game in future updates. “We are constantly improving the elements that we have available in the game and the next thing that we want to add at the end of this year is the PvP mode.”
Beuttenmüller also noted that an update to the recently-introduced friends list allows players to add a note to a friend in order to help them differentiate between the potentially dozens of friends they have added. She also confirmed that there will be more Pokemon added to the game, but didn’t say when we should expect to see them. That said, Niantic has already started teasing some of the Generation 4 creatures in artwork.
Pokemon Go has been through something of a renaissance over the past few months as old players have jumped back in to check out all of the new features Niantic has added since launch. PvP battles would be a perfect addition for the holidays as everyone heads back home to see their family and friends.
