Pokémon GO: 6 years after release, trainers will soon be able to write to each other – we know that about Campfire

Pokémon GO trainers will soon be able to look forward to a long-awaited chat option. We at MeinMMO took a look at what “Campfire” is all about and spoke to Philip Marz when this app should be available to all players.

What is the function? The trainers in Pokémon GO have wanted an in-game chat or another way to communicate with each other for years. There is no such function in the game so far, which is why players have to switch to other platforms such as WhatsApp, Discord or Facebook to make arrangements.

It is important to be networked, especially when raiding together, but also to make friends or trade Pokémon. But now Niantic finally wants to remedy this and has announced a new app: Campfire.

We at MeinMMO spoke to Philip Marz, Head of Regional Marketing Pokémon GO (EMEA), at the GO Fest in Berlin and had Campfire explained to us. We have summarized everything we know about the new app and when it should be available to everyone below.

Campfire – All information about the new app from Niantic

What is Campfire? Campfire is an independent app from Ninatic, the developers of Pokémon GO, and is intended to enable communication between players of all Niantic games in the future.

What can Campfire do? As Niantic has already announced on their website, Campfire will cover the social component of their games in the future. It is intended to help the trainers “discover new people, places and experiences in their area” and thus be able to network with the local communities. The following features are planned:

• Find local communities/players nearby
• join communities
• Add and manage Niantic friends
• Write group messages
• Write direct messages
• View and plan shared activities
• Send signals on a map for others

With the help of these functions, you should have the opportunity to exchange ideas with other players, to write and announce raids, but also to share photos and locations with friends. It should be possible to connect users across all Niantic games.

Philip Marz also confirms this in an interview. He highlights Campfire’s functionality and capabilities as follows:

There will be both the possibility to find communities nearby and then to arrange group activities such as raids with them. There will also be the possibility of exchanging messages, so that in principle you can enter into a direct dialogue.

Philip March

In the following picture you can see first impressions of the graphics and functionality of the Campfire app:

When can you use Campfire?

After there was already a beta phase for Ingress Prime, another Niantic game, in recent months, worldwide tests are now to take place in Pokémon GO. In addition, select groups of Trainers in certain regions will have the chance to try out Campfire. You can find out which regions these will be on Niantic’s social channels.

When is Campfire for everyone coming? Of course, many trainers are looking forward to finally being able to chat with other players, so we asked Philip Marz this question in an interview and wanted to know when Campfire is likely to be released.

However, he could not give us an exact date. One reason for this is the feedback from the test groups, which they want to wait to adjust the product again if necessary. So he says:

The exact timing of when Campfire will be rolled out broadly, truly worldwide to the entire Pokemon GO community, is undefined at this time. We are currently in the testing phase, so of course we try or strive to implement all the experiences we have and the feedback that is shared in order to be able to offer the best possible experience.

Philip March

So when it will finally be time and we can finally get in touch with other trainers or look for communities nearby remains to be seen for the moment. Should there be any new information on this, you will of course find out about it from us on MeinMMO.

Niantic’s ambition for Campfire and Pokémon GO

In an interview with Philip Marz, it becomes clear that Niantic wants to do justice to the different interests and ambitions of the players with the release of Campfire. According to Marz, the fact that there will be a single point of contact for the various functions in the future is an advantage and improves Pokémon GO significantly. Here’s what he tells us in an interview:

Basically, Campfire will take the Pokemon GO experience to the next level in a very, very positive way. Even with Ambition, where we say for us the metaverse of Niantic is something where the focus is still in the real world. But through these digital and in our case augmented reality experiences, we can of course present it in a much more complex way.
And then Campfire also contributes to that, where you can say it’s no longer the case that I can or have to do everything separately from each other in individual groups. And since I have to find out first, how do I ultimately find the people around me who also share this passion? But I have a product, I have everything integrated and I can do this […] very simply anytime, whenever I want to make it accessible to me and benefit from it. And if I don’t want it, that’s totally fine too. But I really have everything in one tool, in one app.

Philip March

At the same time, Niantic Pokémon GO would like to make it wider and expand it positively with such features. According to Marz, the developers are not only looking at a product life cycle of 5 to 10 years, as is usual with other mobile games, but also see a so-called “forever game” in Pokémon GO itself:

That also lives up to our ambition and we have seen it in the last six years. Pokemon GO has constantly evolved and while the content is of course limited, we have the opportunity to draw on a very, very broad portfolio of features that we can use to still enhance the gaming experience and also the very individual needs, to adjust. We have already seen that PvP is of course an issue, there are others who only want to collect and catch. There are the next ones that are more focused on social issues. There are those, there are others who do both together. And this is where we really go down the path of saying we want to keep Pokemon GO broader and broader. For us in the Ambition, it is a so-called Forever Game. […]

So the birthday is next week and then we will be in the seventh year. So you notice that more than half of the regular time is already over. Our ambition goes much, much further. And that also requires that we expand on the features. And that’s also something we’re definitely doing with Campfire.

Philip March

Time will tell how Pokémon GO will continue and whether the game will actually become a “Forever Game”, as the developers imagine.

What do you think of the planned app to finally be able to communicate with each other? Will you download Campfire as soon as it’s available? Or do you find that totally uninteresting? Feel free to write us your opinion here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers.

By the way, for the 6th anniversary of Pokémon GO, Niantic is holding a special anniversary event with cool new costumes and a Rocket weekend. We will show you all the content of the event.