Niantic has officially started rolling out an early access version of the Pikmin app for a limited number of users. Residents of Singapore who were signed up for Niantic pre-registration updates had a chance of getting access to the test.
Niantic and Nintendo announced a new partnership last week that will have the two developers jointly develop new augmented reality mobile titles based on various Nintendo franchises. The first of those titles is an AR game set in the Pikmin universe.
Interested users can sign up for pre-registration, which will send you updates on new Niantic titles, patches, and more.
Based on players who have successfully downloaded the game and tested it out, there are confidential texts that warn players in the test against sharing footage or images of the unreleased game. This is very similar to how The Pokémon Company and the developers at TiMi Studios have been handling the beta footage of Pokémon Unite too.
From what users have shared on Twitter, the game appears to give players Pikmin Seedlings that will grow as the player walks. The app features Red, Blue, Yellow, Purple, White, Rock, and Winged Pikmin at the moment. There are also Decor Pikmin, which are described as “unusual” Pikmin wearing attire associated with the place you found them, according to the Video Games Chronicle.
The more you walk, the more your Pikmin grows, eventually becoming usable in a feature called Expeditions. Players can send Pikmin out on their own to areas you have traveled to previously, where they will collect resources.
“Niantic’s AR technology has made it possible for us to experience the world as if Pikmin are secretly living all around us,” representative director and legendary game designer for Nintendo Shigeru Miyamoto said. “Based on the theme of making walking fun, our mission is to provide people a new experience that’s different from traditional games. We hope that the Pikmin and this app will become a partner in your life.”
The Pikmin-based mobile app is the first title being developed by Niantic’s Tokyo Studio, which was established in April 2018. It is set to launch later this year and will be the first of several games Niantic and Nintendo are currently developing together.
More details about this test and more information about content in the game’s final release should be coming out over the next several weeks.
