Niantic Doubles Down on Pokemon Go, Promises New Update Next Week

Niantic is promising Pokemon Go players that they won't abandon the game after the release of their new Harry Potter game.

On Friday, Niantic released a short blog post promising they would be "doubling down" on Pokemon Go in 2018. "Just like many of you, we're super excited about Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and are working hard with our partners at Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and WB Games San Francisco's development team to bring that to life," the blog post reads.

"However, we – the Pokémon GO development team – want to say that we are 100% committed to creating an ever-changing and growing game that gets our players exploring, meeting each other, and deepening their connection to the Pokémon universe."

The blogpost also noted that Niantic was hiring more people for the Pokemon Go development team. Sure enough, Niantic is hiring for over 30 different positions, many of which are based in Bellevue, Washington, where Niantic works with The Pokemon Company on Pokemon Go.

While Harry Potter fans were thrilled about this week's surprise announcement, many Pokemon Go fans were a little less enthusiastic. Pokemon Go still feels like an incomplete game and players were worried that Niantic would take even longer to add new features.

Of course, Niantic has made some pretty big promises before, teasing big features like trading and PvP battles and not delivering. They've also had some execution issues, as seen with the Pokemon Go Fest debacle and the much derided EX Raid feature.

With a new update out next week, there's going to be even more Pokemon Go news coming soon. Stay tuned for more developments on both of Niantic's big projects.