Trainers,
a couple of weeks ago, we’ve gathered a number of player suggested questions and sent them over to Niantic media contacts, hoping to get some answers. We’re happy to announce that our questions have been answered!
The questions are answered by Tatsuo Nomura, Sr. Product Manager at Niantic. You can find out more about Nomura on his LinkedIn and Twitter profiles. Tatsuo Nomura has been with Niantic for almost two years now, working on the product side of things. He’s previous experience is Google-centric, where he worked as software engineer and a product manager. He was also involved with the development of Google Maps Pokemon Challenge.
Without further ado, here are Nomura’s answers. We’re also including a TLDR version at the end if you wish to share with your local Pokemon GO community.
Interview with Tatsuo Nomura, Sr. Product Manager at Niantic
Q: How did the gym rework influence player engagement? Are you satisfied with the results?
A: We see more player engagement across trainer levels including casual trainers, which we are very happy about. Of course it’s not perfect and we will keep tuning it.
Q: There were a number of suggestions for improving the current gym system. Is this the final form or we can expect more changes?
A: We have a number of things in our minds based on feedback from the community, but nothing to be announced yet. We are currently focusing on stability and performance fixes so it might take a while before the trainers will see more gym improvements.
Q: Raids are amazing, but there are some pain points for raid organisers. Are there any plans to include in-game support for raid coordination, similar to what MMOs like WoW have?
A: We are happy to see that a lot of trainers play together in Raids. A wide variety of users are playing together and socializing, from kids to grandparents. “Adventure on foot with others” is Niantic’s mission and we believe Raids contribute a lot to realize that mission in Pokemon GO.
We are also aware of the coordination issue and have some ideas of how to improve it. We are not ready to announce anything at the moment, but improving Raid playability is our major priority right now.
Q: The server infrastructure has been vastly improved. Are there any plans for improving the game client in terms of performance and battery/CPU usage?
A: Absolutely yes! We are focusing on improving client performance and stability. Trainers should see more and more stable and performant client in the coming updates.
TLDR version of the interview
- Niantic is very happy with how the Gym rework has influenced the player engagement, but they’re aware it’s not perfect
- Their current focus is on improving stability and performance, so it might take a while before we get another set of gym changes
- Yes, they are aware of the raid coordination issue and have some ideas of how to improve it – not ready to announce anything now
- Improving Raid playability is a major priority right now
- Trainers should see a more stable and performant game client in the coming updates
