Niantic, the studio behind the popular Pokémon Go, is releasing NBA All-World. This mobile basketball game uses augmented reality with the National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Players Association.
This summer, the three officially announced their intention to work together to establish NBA All-World. Players of the NBA All-World can use geolocation features to locate other basketball enthusiasts and NBA players in their region for friendly competition.
The free-to-play game, like Pokémon Go, has users walking around the natural world searching for recruits and battlegrounds. On Tuesday, the app stores for Android and iOS smartphones finally went online, making the game available for download.
A short documentary series starring Jalen Green, Jordan Poole, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Andrew Wiggins is part of the “go. all. out” marketing push for the NBA All-World. In the series titled “Where I’m From,” NBA players talk about their favorite places to shoot hoops in their hometowns.
“We look forward to our fans fully immersing in NBA All-World,” said Matt Holt, head of consumer products at the NBA, in a news statement. Our partnership with Niantic and the NBPA has allowed us to provide NBA and NBPA culture to players worldwide.
This is Niantic’s first fully licensed sports game, showing that the NBA is serious about embracing new technologies like the metaverse in gaming. The game allows users to travel to different locales and play on other courts, meet real NBA players and sign them to their teams, outfit their virtual players with stuff from Drop Zones, and compete in tournaments to win special rewards within the game.
Niantic’s Lightship platform was used to create NBA All-World, while the company’s Campfire social tool facilitates player interactions outside the game. According to Niantic’s CEO and founder, John Hanke, “our version of an NBA basketball game starts with exciting one-on-one gameplay and expands from there to include the major elements of basketball culture, including music, fashion, sneakers, and more,” which are integrated into real-world locations.
Are you ready to ball? Get into the gameplay of NBA All-World in episode 2 of “Beyond The Game.” @NBAAllWorld 🏀 pic.twitter.com/6Q55ogVuAR
— Are you ready to go All-World? 🏀 (@NianticLabs) January 24, 2023
To bring the game to life and give NBA fans around the world new experiences, Niantic collaborated closely with the NBPA’s innovation arm, THINK450. In a statement, THINK450’s Chief Commercial Officer Josh Goodstadt explained that the company hoped to “help make NBA All-World as authentic as possible” and “reach new audiences” by including NBA players in Niantic’s augmented reality game.
We’re excited for people to create their teams based on their favorite NBA players from all over the world and compete against one other. The NBA All-Star event will develop further by including real-world experiences and brand activations.
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Here Are Some Opinions About NBA Mobile Game On Twitter
NBA All-World is here. What are you most hyped about? The courts? The sneaker drops? The game play? @nbaallworld #NBAAW
Make some noise in the replies! 🔊
— Are you ready to go All-World? 🏀 (@NianticLabs) January 24, 2023
What Meta Says
Grab a front row seat to live @NBA games — right from your couch on @MetaQuestVR.
We’re adding 50+ upcoming games in #VR, along with more from the @WNBA, @nbagleague and @NBA2KLeague.
Ready for tip-off 🏀?https://t.co/zU4qVlq90z
— Meta (@Meta) January 23, 2023
What Matt Navarra Says
Meta extends VR partnership with NBA
– You will be able to watch 50 live NBA games in VR on Meta Quest, including five in immersive, 180-degree VR.
– Meta will also offer licensed NBA team apparel in the Meta Avatars Store https://t.co/w4e5fa6xkg
— Matt Navarra (@MattNavarra) January 23, 2023
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