Popular developer Niantic has been at the forefront of AR mobile gaming in recent years, working on the massively successful Pokemon GO and, more recently, an augmented reality adaptation of Pikmin. Today, the team announced its next project, confirming it's teaming with Hasbro to work on Transformers: Heavy Metal.
The game will follow in the same footsteps as the company's array of popular mobile AR experiences, with Niantic teasing it will see players "team up with the likes of Bumblebee and the Autobots in the real world." According to a new interview posted by Bloomberg, the game will also have co-op elements, allowing "groups of players to battle digital robots."
As for when the title will drop, Executive Producer Phil Hong revealed in a blog post that it'll soft launch in select countries very soon, with a global release currently slated for later this year. Considering the franchise has always revolved around alien robots disguising themselves amongst the people of Earth, it's sure to have a lot of potential in the augmented reality space. Players wanting more information can sign up to be notified when it becomes available by heading over to Heavy Metal's official website.
While Heavy Metal will seemingly be a big focus for the company, it still has a number of projects in development, including its aforementioned Pikmin game. The AR title will bring the cult-classic Nintendo property to a new format, tasking users with growing new Pikmin friends. These characters will be able to interact with the real world, go on expeditions, and discover collectibles, with players encouraged to log in daily and keep active while catching up with their roster of virtual creatures. It's already been soft-launched in Singapore and will allegedly release worldwide later this year.
Alongside Pikmin, the company continues to cater to the millions of fans still logging into Pokemon GO every single day. The immensely successful AR experience is flooded with new events every month, with Niantic even managing to ensure it remained popular during the pandemic by increasing the number of Pokemon players could catch around their homes. The game's newest event is slated to take place this Thursday, pitting players against Team GO Rocket leader Giovanni in an effort to save Shadow Ho-Oh. Niantic seems to have an utterly stacked roster of supported and upcoming games for mobile players to keep an eye on, whether they're seasoned Pokemon trainers or long-time Transformers enthusiasts.
Transformers: Heavy Metal is coming to mobile devices later this year.