On July 6th, 2016,Pokemon GOlaunched and started what can only be described as a worldwide phenomenon. Appealing to hardcore fans and casual gamers alike,Pokemon GOquickly became one of the most popular mobile games in history, and put Niantic on the map as a developer to watch. Considering this, fans are expecting the company to celebratePokemon GO’s anniversary in a big way, and while nothing official has been announced, evidence of an anniversary event has been discovered in the game’s latest update.
Reddit users have dataminedPokemon GO’s latest update, which mainly makes some minor bug fixes, and have found a line of code that says ONE_YEAR_ANNIVERSARY. The running theory is that the bug fix update forPokemon GOis also meant to pave the way for Niantic to implement something special for the game’s anniversary on Thursday, July 6th.
Right now, the most likely scenario is that Niantic will add a Pikachu variant toPokemon GOon the game’s anniversary. Based on a recent video released in Japan to celebrate the launch of the latestPokemonfilm, it appears as though that Pikachu variant will beAsh’s Pikachufrom the anime.
It wouldn’t be the first time Niantic has added a Pikachu variant toPokemon GOto celebrate a special event. In the past, afestive hat Pikachuwas added to celebrate the holidays, and a party hat Pikachu was added in recognition of international Pokemon Day. Since Pikachu is without a doubt the most recognizable Pokemon in existence, one has to imagine that Niantic will continue to release limited time Pikachu variants as a way to celebrate significant events.
Beyond adding a Pikachu variant, it’s possiblePokemon GO’s one year anniversary will be celebrated in other ways as well. Perhaps Niantic will gift players with special items, especially those that have been with the game since the beginning. Alternatively, Niantic could use the game’s one year anniversary to add some long-requested features to the mix, likePokemon tradingor legendary Pokemon.
Pokemon GOis available now for iOS and Android mobile devices.
