Pokemon Go Trading And PvP Battle Features Coming Soon, Apparently

The CEO of Pokemon Go developer Niantic has confirmed that two highly anticipated features, monster trading and PvP battles, are still on the way. In an interview with Vice's Waypoint, Hanke said at least one of these features would have been out already had it not been for the game's initial server issues.

"It's going to be done soon," Hanke said about the new features. "It is what it is. I'll take the massive wave of hysteria we enjoyed, and just deal with the fact that it's caused us to take a bit longer to get the rest of the features up. We're really happy to make our users happy."

No Caption Provided

According to The Pokemon Company, which publishes Pokemon Go, some features were intentionally held back in an effort to make the game feel approachable to newcomers. After launch, new features were added such as Buddy Pokemon and Nearby systems.

Also in the interview, Hanke said Pokemon Go made enough money in 2016 to support Niantic for a long time, possibly forever. "Last year has funded us, you know, indefinitely, really," he said.

Neither Niantic nor The Pokemon Company have ever announced how much money Pokemon Go has brought in. A report claimed the game made $600 million in its first 90 days. All of that money comes from microtransactions, as Pokemon Go is a free-to-play game.

You can read the full interview here at Vice.

In other Pokemon Go news, a Valentine's Day event is going on right now--read GameSpot's previous coverage to learn more about it.