'Pokémon Go' developers Niantic reportedly working on more projects

With the worldwide success of "Pokémon Go," Niantic is at an all time high. The game was able to raise the stock prices of Nintendo, and a lot of other game developers are jumping on the bandwagon and are trying to develop games very much like Niantic's walk-inducing Pokémon catcher. Reports are saying that Niantic is open to more projects and are already looking for their next success after this year's hit.

According to Gamespot, Niantic Chief Executive Officer John Hanke said that he is welcoming more developers to the party, and he already has several projects based on the Niantic platform. He says, "[T]hat's always been our strategy to build up a platform underneath a game that can be used for other games, and frankly other experiences that may not exactly be games, but are still within that area of exercise, discovery, and social interaction,"

Before Niantic developed "Pokémon Go," they had a game called "Ingress" which focuses on capturing landmarks in different locations. "Pokémon Go" is actually based on the "Ingress" game, and it uses a lot of information acquired for that game. Hanke says that other apps could do the same as well.

It looks like Hanke is focused on making games that give people excuses to exercise, go out, and socialize with other people. He believes that there is a lot of potential for more games that could take advantage of location and augmented reality.

Even if he is planning for new games, it doesn't mean that "Pokémon Go" has been left by the wayside. The team is currently developing a new Buddy system which will allow players to choose a companion Pokémon that will walk alongside their avatar in the game. Doing so will award the trainer with Candy and other bonuses the more they walk with their Pokémon.

"Pokémon Go" is available for Android and iOS devices.