New NBA App Game

 

Not content with getting the world on their feet to go Pokémon hunting, Niantic has gone one step (and jump) further with the announcement of their new NBA app game: NBA All-World. Who would have thought we’d see the day where actual exercise was integrated into a sports game.

But before you don your basketball kit, from what we’ve heard so far this NBA app game is more reminiscent of Pokémon Go than you might initially think. Only instead of finding and throwing balls at a Pokémon, you find and throw balls with a digitized version of an actual NBA player. Gotta dunk ‘em all?

As with other Niantic-led AR games, players are encouraged to go out and explore their neighborhoods, where they can stumble upon NBA stars in-game. Upon meeting their NBA hero and thrashing them in a 1v1 match, players can then recruit them to their team before deploying them in a basketball battle- we mean match. 

 

NBA App Game

 

But NBA All-World isn’t all about playing basketball. As it turns out, fashion can be just as important, and Niantic and the NBA are focusing heavily on individual styles, with the ability to don custom apparel that can provide actual bonuses to a team’s stats.

“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,” said Marcus Matthews, Senior Producer at Niantic. ​ “We’re creating and designing a game that empowers players to represent where they’re from and showcase their individual style.”

Cultivating the style of your players will involve visiting stops – typically actual courts and sports stores – where players can find drops for items of clothing like trainers, or allow their players to top-up on stamina. 

Minigames will include King of the Court, where gameplay will involve swiping and tapping to shoot, block and fake in the court. The NBA players in game will also have their own unique set of skills that mirror their real-world counterparts, allowing for players to deploy tactics as well as skill.

This NBA app game is yet to receive a release date, but prospective players can sign up to be the first to know when it nears its global launch.