• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
MWC 2017

Pokemon Go Creator Teases Updates Coming Later This Year

By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Aaron Pressman
Aaron Pressman
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 28, 2017, 4:31 PM ET
Pokemon GO Fans Converge At Sydney Opera House
Photo by Brendon Thorne — Getty Images

The creator of Pokemon Go offered tantalizing news on Tuesday—but few real details—for fans of the mobile gaming phenomenon.

The game, which has been downloaded more than 650 million times, just received a major update called “Generation 2,” two weeks ago, which added 80 new Pokemon monsters for players to seek. But three more updates are on the way later this year, according to John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, the Google (GOOGL) spinoff that created the game for Nintendo.

Players have been eagerly awaiting a promised feature to let them trade Pokemon, but it didn’t arrive with Generation 2. Hanke gave no details about the upcoming versions, and took no questions from the audience during an appearance at the Mobile World Congress telecommunications trade show in Barcelona.

Niantic will also release a whole new version of its earlier sci-fi themed mobile game Ingress, Hanke teased, again without giving details. And there may be even bigger news to come about all new games.

“We’ll be launching a new version of our original game, Ingress, later this year and we have some other projects that unfortunately I can’t talk about today,” Hanke said. “They’ll be coming down the pike.”

Hanke wowed the audience in Barcelona with facts and figures about the runaway success of Pokemon Go, which was the top grossing app in Apple’s (AAPL) iTunes app store for 74 straight days from its U.S. release last July through mid-September.

People playing the game have walked a total of 8.7 billion kilometers (5.4 million miles) while playing, farther than the distance from earth to Pluto, Hanke noted. A total of 88 billion Pokemon monsters have been captured in the game. And players have used a staggering 44 petabytes of mobile data while playing—enough to bust even the biggest data allowance and equal to about 15 times the digital holdings of the Library of Congress.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

As he was speaking to a room full of telecommunications and technology executives, Hanke also discussed a bit of the business side of the game. Over 35,000 locations—ranging from Starbucks (SBUX) to Sprint retail stores—paid to become sponsored locations in the game and received a total of 500 million visits from players.

Ingress, Niantic’s earlier game that mapped virtual in-game features onto the real world, was more of a “cult hit,” Hanke said. It was downloaded 200 million times, and its players have walked a total of 344 million kilometers (214 million miles).

All players are divided into one of two factions, and each faction has a logo. Hanke said Niantic was surprised when early on, some players began getting tattoos of the logos.

“People started getting tattoos of the two factions of the game, permanent tattoos, not temporary tattoos,” Hanke said. “Mind you we were still in beta at the time, so everything was still in flux. Those logos could have changed.”

About the Author
By Aaron Pressman
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

home for sale
AIChatGPT
A man let ChatGPT sell his home. It beat every agent’s estimate by $100K—and closed in 5 days
By Jake AngeloMarch 21, 2026
26 minutes ago
US President Donald Trump, left, and Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, speak to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, March 20, 2026. US officials said the White House is sending more than 2,000 additional Marines to the Middle East as it weighs a plan to seize Iran's Kharg Island oil export hub, a ground operation that would carry huge risks for President Donald Trump.
EnergyIran
Three weeks into the Iran war that’s requested $200 billion, here’s what success for Trump might look like
By Jordan BlumMarch 21, 2026
58 minutes ago
AsiaIran
How the Strait of Hormuz poses an existential threat to Asia’s economies
By Nicholas GordonMarch 21, 2026
1 hour ago
LawElon Musk
Musk misled Twitter investors before 2022 buyout, jury says
By Isaiah Poritz, Jef Feeley and BloombergMarch 20, 2026
9 hours ago
Economygeopolitics
Tariffs were already squeezing small businesses. Now the Iran conflict is pushing them to the brink as rising oil prices boost shipping costs
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezMarch 20, 2026
9 hours ago
PoliticsIran
Trump says U.S. considers ‘winding down’ Iran military effort
By Jeff Mason, Courtney Subramanian and BloombergMarch 20, 2026
10 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.