Paresh Dave of the LA Times with John Hanke of Niantic Labs at GamesBeat 2016.
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Niantic CEO’s public service message: Take a walk

Niantic CEO John Hanke has a reputation for being purposeful with his work in games like Pokémon Go, like getting people to go outside to visit monuments. And so it’s no surprise that, during the pandemic, he wants people to take a walk.

In a blog post, Hanke said that while we’re debating much about the proper response to the pandemic, no one is disputing that walks are good for us. “But the walk, the solo walk, or the stroll with our quarantine partners, that is a pleasure we should indulge,” Hanke said. “Social distancing observed, mask worn if needed, definitely.”

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.