“We feel our time and energy right now are best spent on making sure every aspect of the product is where we want it to be.”
Niantic Labs’ Catch ‘Em All: Pokemon Go and Real World Gaming session at the Game Developer’s Conference has been canceled. According to the event page, the event, originally scheduled for March 14, promised a discussion about “how the company has developed a unique vision for delivering a mobile Pokemon experience that gets would-be trainers into the outdoors,” along with “a first-hand, in-depth look at how players are interacting and exploring the world with one another through Pokemon GO, the collaborative approach to design and development for the game and the next evolution of augmented reality and real-world mobile gameplay experiences.”
In a statement provided to Game Informer, Niantic CEO John Hanke stated that the decision to forego the GDC talk was made in order to focus the team’s energy on the product.
“We have decided to forego our GDC talk on Pokemon Go in order to focus on getting the product ready for beta test and launch,” Hanke said. “As much as we hate to disappoint those in the industry attending GDC, we feel our time and energy right now are best spent on making sure every aspect of the product is where we want it to be.”
