Pokémon Go is adding Trainer Battles for player-versus-player combat.

Niantic is updating Pokémon Go and other games as coronavirus keeps us inside

Niantic said it’s updating its games like Pokémon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and Ingress so that they can record your indoor activity and link that to gameplay goals.

CEO John Hanke said in a blog post today that Niantic acknowledges the “this time of unprecedented challenge due to the COVID-19 pandemic” and the “increased physical and mental strain” it is causing.

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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.