‘Pokemon GO’ GDC 2016 Cancelled! Promise to Provide Players With ‘In-Depth Look’ Not Kept

Pokemon GO fans were quite disappointed with the current outcome during the Game Developers Conference this year. It turns out, The Pokemon GO session at the event with Niantic CEO John Hanke has been cancelled.

According to their site, the original schedule for the session had it happening on March 14 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. However, they needed to cancel the session. So far, the GDC has not offered any explanation on why the session was cancelled.

The fans were really looking forward for the Pokemon GO session since they were promised big things.

Attendees will get a first-hand, in-depth look at how players are interacting and exploring the world with one another through Pokemon GO, the collaborative approach to design and development for the game and the next evolution of augmented reality and real-world mobile gameplay experiences.

Unfortunately, they will have to wait for further updates on when Niantic will reopen the Pokemon GO discussions to the public.

Fans Retaliate, Others Rally Behind Niantic

Fans have been divided on the outcome of the announcement. Some were “mad” that the session did not go through, while others tried to rationalize the reason why Niantic did such move.

One Reddit user even asked if it would be the beginning of the end. Will Niantic cancel the entire game as well?

The user added that it will somehow be unlikely for the game developers to cancel the entire game.

However I really wouldn’t be surprised if they were to announce a release date only for it to be pushed back. Sorry if its a scary thought, but once again I really doubt they would cancel the game altogether after all the millions of dollars they’ve been funded. To top it all off, Niantic and Nintendo have A LOT of miffed fans.

On the other hand, there were still fans who tried to defend Niantic. Though it was still a disappointing outcome for them, they feel that these are just normal delays any game developer face.

“No. I’m pretty sure Niantic is just a bit behind,” wrote furnavi.

Furnavi added that the session during the Game Developer Conference “was never intended for news in the first place” and that it was scheduled merely as a presentation.

“They probably cancelled it because the game won’t be released in time to collect enough data to show to the attendees how players are interacting with the world through the game, as the description says,” he added.

Pokemon GO was supposed to be released on Android and iOS. There have been multiple news items about the game’s release over the past few months. After all the buzz and anticipation, this big setback has really disappointed most of the fans.

Is It Worth The Wait?

Pokemon GO being delayed and not appearing during the GDC is quite a big deal for fans who are really looking out for the game. Aside from the excitement around the smartphone release, Pokemon GO is currently one of the top mobile games that can be considered one step ahead of our current technology.

Pokemon GO will supposedly be released with the Pokemon GO Plus, a wearable device created by Nintendo to connect the users to Pokemon GO‘s online world.

At the same time, Pokemon GO uses this new technology where users can “catch, train, and battle Pokemons” in the real world, according to The Verge.

Niantic even got Junichi Masuda, director of Pokemon games, working on the project.

“He is hard at work ensuring that the fun of Pokémon makes its way into this new project, and is also looking to come up with new kinds of gameplay while thinking of ways to connect this project with the main series of Pokémon video games,” according to a Pokemon Company statement.

With all of these “promises” on the Pokemon GO, fans could not help but wonder if it is really worth the wait? If so, how long do they really have to?

[Image Credit: Bob Riha, Jr./Nintendo via Getty Images]