While Pokemon GO is still Niantic’s most popular game, the company is trying to diversify its game portfolio by announcing a new game. Niantic today announced a partnership with Capcom to launch a game in the monster hunter franchise on mobile later this year.
The company said the game will be called Monster Hunter Now and will launch in September on iOS and Android. And players will have to “hunt monsters in the real world”, according to the official website.
Right now you can follow the official game twitter account and sign up for the closed beta on the website. The developers said on the website that they will start sharing invitations from April 25 with around 10,000 people.
The companies haven’t shared many details about how the game will work, but given that it’s a Niantic title, you can expect to have to venture out and travel to different locations to defeat different monsters, earn gear, forge weapons, and progress through the game.
“Taking on the role of a hunter, players will adventure and team up with other players to take down the world’s fiercest monsters, adding a social element to the thrilling experience,” Niantic said in A press release.
The game will limit battles with monsters to 75 seconds, and players can use both landscape and portrait modes to play.
So far, Niantic has dabbled in non-Pokémon games like NBA All World, Pikmin Bloom, and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The latter game was discontinued in 2021. Last year, the company cut staff by 8% and canceled four projects, including a Transformers game.
Back in April, Niantic showed off a beta version of a game called Peridot, which lets users care for and walk virtual pets. The game is now set to release on May 9.
