• News
• Modojo @ Shacknews

NBA All-World takes Niantic from Pokemon to basketball

Niantic's latest mobile title moves away from fantasy settings and into the real world of the NBA.

Ozzie Mejia

June 28, 2022 11:25 AM

1

Niantic has been dealing almost exclusively in fantasy worlds with its line of mobile games. That's about to change with the studio's latest title. Instead of diving into the realm of something like Pokemon or Pikmin, Niantic is hitting the gym with basketball's biggest stars in NBA All-World.

NBA All-World is the result of a new partnership between Niantic and the folks at the NBA and the NBA Players Association. It will operate similarly to the studio's previous efforts like Pokemon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Ingress in that it will center around geolocation for its gameplay mechanics. The main difference is that rather than collect creatures, users will collect gear and recruit players in order to build an unstoppable basketball juggernaut.

Customization will be a major component in NBA All-World. Drop Zones will be placed throughout the world and allow users to pick up new Gear for their players, some of which can even upgrade their stats. Teams can then take to the court for some one-on-one competition, which includes exercises like shooting drills.

There's no official release date for NBA All-World, but it should be noted that Niantic has already started soft launching the game across various regions. Those interested in taking part of the game's early days can sign up over on the NBA All-World website. The full launch is expected over the course of the 2022-23 NBA season on iOS and Android.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?