There was no dearth of controversies for Pokemon Go on the Apple Watch. Be it rumors of the said version of the game being shelved to developers clarifying the rumors via Twitter, these pocket monsters have finally made their way to your wrists. Niantic Labs announced the launch via its official blog which states,
Pokemon GO is now on the Apple Watch, just in time for the Holidays.
With the availability of the game on the watch, you can now hatch eggs and interact with Pokemons right from your wrist. You will also receive notifications regarding the gameplay and nearby Pokemons on the watch display. Further, you’ll also be able to log in your Pokemon Go sessions as workouts which will be counted towards your personal activity rings. Interesting, ain’t it? The distance covered while hatching Pokemon eggs and receiving candy from buddy Pokemon will also be noted of. The notifications related to awards and medals will also pop up on the watch.
Combining physical activities with the gameplay will certainly give a boost to the game downloads which has already reached 600 million in November. The company has recently also added Gen II Pokemons and released the game in our country (India), which credits for sudden spike in downloads. Moreover, to play Pokemon Go you constantly need to explore your environment and Niantic claims that trainers (players) have walked more than 8.7 billion kilometers in order to capture 88 billion Pokemons till date. Hence, the game will add to the exercise schedule of Apple Watch owners.
Niantic comments upon the same as under,
Apple Watch is particularly well suited to Pokémon GO as it seamlessly combines gameplay and imagination with getting exercise and exploring the real world. You can easily interact with Pokémon GO on Apple Watch, using quick taps to discover nearby Pokémon and collect items from PokéStops.
Though you’ll receive notifications of nearby Pokemons, you’ll need your smartphone to catch them. Catching of Pokemon via the watch is yet to be developed which proves to be a major drawback of this release. The wearable version of the game was announced back in September and as per announcements it was expected to launch by the end of 2016. The company stands upon its promise as of today and give users a pleasant present for the holiday season.
