“Oh boy, here we go,” said John Hanke, CEO of Niantic Labs when speaking at Apple’s iPhone 7 event today. “Pokémon Go is coming to the Apple Watch.”
Hinke stated that Pokémon Go has had more than 500 million downloads and that trainers have walked more than 4.6 billion kilometers. Although possibly the most successful digital game in history, it has also generated controversy from trespassing and nuisance lawsuits to deaths caused by the games mobile distractions.
The Apple Watch version of Pokémon Go includes features that make the game playable without having to always be glaring at your phone, mitigating some of the more dangerous pitfalls. The basic game is the same but is designed to be a more walking experience, where users can view distances walked, calories burned and be alerted when a Pokémon is within reach.
The app will be available before the holidays.