Niantic launches ‘Pokémon Go’-style basketball game ‘NBA All-World’

24 January, 2023

NBA All-World. Credit: Niantic.

Pokémon Go developer Niantic has released NBA All-World, a free-to-play mobile game that lets players build their own NBA teams and collect gear by exploring their neighbourhood.

READ MORE: Best FPS games: what’s the best shooter you can play in 2023?

NBA-All World launched today (January 24) and tasks players with exploring their surrounding area to recruit current NBA stars or challenge them to one-on-one matches.

Like Pokémon Go, players’ movement is tracked on a Google Maps-style map of their surroundings, and augmented reality (AR) locations like shoe shops will let players collect in-game trainers, jerseys and other gear.

At launch, NBA All-World‘s minigames will include a three-point shootout, Around The World, Beat The Clock, and a first to five point system. While players won’t be able to directly battle other players in the game’s 3D basketball game modes, local basketball courts will have a leaderboard system that allows them to take on other people by challenging an AI-controlled member of their team.

Each character’s stats – offense, defence, fitness, energy and overall level – will influence how they perform when challenged by other players. As for the basketballers that players will be able to recruit, Niantic has confirmed that only players who are currently on an NBA roster will appear, though stopped short of ruling it out from appearing in future updates.

Niantic has also charted over 100,000 basketball courts to feature in NBA All-World, however the studio has confirmed to press that any players who do not have a local court will be able to use many of the locations marked as points of interest in Pokémon Go.

Along with featuring famous basketball players including Stephen Curry and Jordan Poole, NBA All-World will include licensed tracks from the following artists: