Niantic teams up with NBA for AR game

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) have formed a partnership with Pokémon Go developer Niantic to create augmented reality (AR) mobile game ‘NBA All-World’.

San Francisco-based Niantic said NBA All-World will be an officially licensed game set in ‘a real world Metaverse’ which layers computer animations on top of reality via augmented reality. Players will be able to use the geolocation system to recruit other interested players in their neighbourhood to form a team and challenge each other in one-on-one multiplayer hoops game on a smartphone. All World will also offer users the ability to outfit players in their tem with custom NBA apparel.

Senior producer at Niantic, Marcus Matthews said of the game, ‘NBA All-World represents an industry first in sports games, as an original, real-world mobile game that will appeal to casual and core NBA fans alike. We’re creating and designing a game that empowers players to represent where they’re from and showcase their individual style.”

He further explained that ‘places and objects in the real world will become video game items; the convenience store near you has become a location to pick up stamina for your NBA player, the sporting goods store around the corner is the place to pick up the latest brand name shoe to customize your players.’

Head of consumer products at the NBA, Matt Holt added: 'Through our partnership with Niantic, NBA All-World will provide fans across the globe the opportunity to fully immerse themselves into the energy and excitement of the NBA. Evident in the name of the game itself, we look forward to engaging with our fans around the world through this captivating experience.’

NBA All-World is now in soft launch, with a global launch to follow during the 2022-2023 NBA season. Interested players can sign up on NBAAll-World.com to get updates on when the game is available in their country and about securing their codename for the global launch.

Photo: Niantic