Which company developed Pokémon Go for its 2016 release?

Niantic developed Pokémon Go for its 2016 release.

Pokémon Go is a mobile augmented-reality game that combines Pokémon collecting with location-based exploration. Niantic developed the game using technology and design ideas connected to its earlier location-based title Ingress. The Pokémon Company and Nintendo supported the project, while Game Freak—the developer of the main role-playing games—was not the studio that built Pokémon Go.

The game was inspired in part by the 2014 Google Maps Pokémon Challenge, an April Fools’ Day project that placed Pokémon on Google Maps. That joke helped demonstrate the appeal of finding Pokémon in real-world locations and eventually contributed to the concept for a full mobile game.

Pokémon Go launched in 2016 and became a worldwide cultural event. Players could find Pokémon, visit PokéStops, battle at Gyms, and catch creatures using smartphones. Its use of GPS, cameras, and augmented-reality features made it distinct from the traditional handheld games.