Pokemon Go Will Be Shown at GDC 2016

Pokemon Go, the free-to-play mobile game that lets players catch, train, and battle monsters in the real world, will be featured in developer Niantic's GDC talk.

The game was originally announced for Android and iPhone in September 2015, but little has been seen of it since. According to the official GDC website, Niantic's chief executive John Hanke will discuss "how the company has developed a unique vision for delivering a mobile Pokemon experience that gets would-be trainers into the outdoors.

"Over the last three years, Niantic, Inc. has been defining the genre of Real World gaming, using smartphones and tablets to connect the digital world to the physical world," the description reads.

It continues: "Niantic's newest game, Pokemon Go, ups the challenge of real world gaming design, taking a beloved franchise and setting its hundreds of brightly-coloured monsters loose across the globe, adding a new Bluetooth wearable device created by Nintendo to the mix."

Discussing the game previously, Nintendo said users will be able to play the game with an optional device called Pokemon Go Plus. Much like a smartwatch, it can be worn on the wrist and used to execute in-game actions such as catching a Pokemon. The device will connect to smartphones using Bluetooth, and will flash its LED and vibrate to notify players about nearby Pokemon.

Pokemon Go is expected to be available on the App Store and Google Play in 2016 as a free download. The game will also have in-app purchases.

Niantic raised $20 million from a round of investors that included The Pokemon Company, Google, and Nintendo. The companies have said they will contribute $10 million more "upon achieving certain milestones."

According to Niantic, the cash is being used on the development of Pokemon Go, as well as to support its AR game Ingress. The funds are also being used to "bring new games to market" among other things.