Niantic, the developer of the uber-popular mobile game Pokemon Go, has announced the release of its brand new AR-based, real-world mobile game called Peridot. It will be Niantic’s first original title since its initial games like Ingress and Ingress Prime. So, without much delay, let’s get into the details.
Niantic Announces Peridot AR Game for iOS and Android
Peridot is primarily a virtual pet simulation game in which players will be given the responsibility of raising, nurturing, and breeding these virtual, mystical (and kinda cute) creatures called Peridots or Dots. The creatures look similar to Pokemons, although players will not have to hunt and catch them in the wild. Instead, the players will be provided with their own Peridots, whom they have to raise from their infant stage to adulthood.
As per Niantic’s official blog, Peridots are magical creatures who are waking up to a new world “after thousands of years of slumber.” So, players will need to protect the Peridots and help them expand their species. You can check out the official announcement trailer attached right below.
The goal of the game is to take your Peridots on real-world walks to nearby points of interest or play with them in the real world. Niantic says that once your Peridots land in a real-world AR environment, they will be able to distinguish between different terrains like sand, grass, water, and dirt, and react accordingly. So, we can assume that the company will be using a part of the Reality Blending tech from its Pokemon Go title to enable such features.
In its blog post, Niantic highlighted that every single Peridot will be unique and comes with different personalities, preferences, and visual appearances. Furthermore, the company says that it has created a unique breeding system, which is “patterned after the way DNA works in real life,” to enable players to unlock various kinds of mystical Dots like Peacock, Unicorn, Cheetah, Rabbit, Clownfish, and more by breeding their existing Peridots. Players will need to go to a specific real-world point, much like a Gym in Pokemon Go, to breed their Peridots.
Coming to the availability, Niantic will begin a soft launch beta testing program for Peridot on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store later this month. However, it will only be available for select markets during the beta testing phase. Currently, you can go to the official Peridot website and sign up with your email to get further updates about the game.
So, what do you think about Niantic’s upcoming AR mobile game? Would you be interested in raising a virtual pet later this year? Let us know in the comments below.
