Pokemon Go Know-How: Customizable PokéStops, Centers And New PokéMon Available In Future Update

Not only did Pokémon GO continue to dominate the recently concluded Comic-Con in San Diego, California, it also brought good news to gamers who were in attendance. Niantic, the makers of the most sensational game right now, had announced that Pokémon Centers, new PokéMon and customizable PokéStops will soon be added in the game's future update.

According to The Bit Bag, John Hanke, Niantic's CEO and founder has announced is great news for fans of the game, since healing and reviving Pokémon in the mobile title can be a bit of a struggle. Healing items are hard to find because of the random nature of the different PokéStops in the game that can usually lead players to buy in-game items with real-life money.

It was also reported that Kotaku confirmed the news from San Diego Comic-Con, stating that the Pokémon Centers would be coming soon, along with the customizable PokéStops. However, they did not go into details of how customizable the PokéStops will be and how they will work to the players' advantage, although Pokémon GO fans can expect an announcement to come in the near future.

Meanwhile, one of the most interesting things Hanke discussed that we might see in future updates are custom PokéStops. Basically, the idea, according to Hanke, is that players can get alternative items that work like Lures, which you add to PokéStops to attract more Pokémon to the area, but having that would change the Stops in several ways.

So, Hanke suggested, for instance, that an object could turn a PokéStops into a healing location which will basically make it a temporary PokeCenter. You could also imagine items that can help PokéStops attract a certain type of Pokémon, like an all-electric Lure, or something that can set what kind of items the PokéStops provides to trainers that will activate it.

Hanke also confirmed that new Pokémon are on their way. Right now, only the original 150 Pokémon included in Pokémon Red/Blue can be found in Pokémon GO for trainers to look for and catch. But Hanke announced that the company is "looking forward to finding interesting ways" to include Pokémon "beyond first generation" into the Go realm.

"Beyond first generation, there are some others that may make their way into our universe," Hanke said. "We're looking forward to finding interesting ways to make that happen in the coming months and years."

Although they he did not give a very specific timeline, he was clear that these updates will come in one way or the other. Many think that the updates will come as soon as basic issues are worked out like server problems, though.

"I don't have a date for you," Hanke said regarding new features. "We're working really hard to keep the servers up and running. We're working on it, but it's gonna take a little longer," The Verge reported.

Hanke also briefly mentioned that trading features are currently being developed by his team. Trading has always been a feature of Pokémon since the original generation of games, and it makes sense for GO to have the same feature. You've probably may have already experienced being doubled up on a Pokémon while with a friend and hoped you could just swap with them for something you need to get a different one to evolve.

While new features were the highlight of what the discussion, Hanke also gave a brief background on some of the game design decisions that went into GO. Tech Crunch reported that the game is a way of tricking people into avoiding a sedentary lifestyle, like going out to exercise, engaging with their community, and exploring their neighborhood.

"We didn't want to advertise it as a fitness app or something of that nature," Hanke said. "I have kids, and you don't want to tell them it's good for them."

That's part of why customizable Pokéstops excites Hanke: it offers another way to get people out of the house and interacting with their surroundings. "It's so amazing to see," Hanke said. "The game is the game, but the game's really an excuse to go outside, see your city, and have fun with other people."