Niantic and Hasbro are working on a VR Transformers game

With Niantic being the creator of one of my favorite mobile games, (Pokémon Go) and Hasbro being the creator of some of my favorite toys and characters, (Marvel, Transformers, Star Wars, etc.) I think this collaboration is going to be one for the ages. The official announcement of this new, joint venture was made on June 14th and has since spread like wildfire across the mobile gaming community.

The details behind this new game are pretty thin, but we do have some little bits of good info to tide us over between now and its release later this year. That info includes screenshots, storyline, gameplay style, and even a title. They’re calling it Transformers: Heavy Metal. I thought that had a nice ring to it.

In this post, I’ll briefly cover the rest of the valuable info that has been released about the game so far. As always, if you have any questions or comments about it, you’re welcome to leave them for me in the comments below. 

First, let me begin by saying that I’m thrilled Niantic is still doing what they do best, which is bringing games to life through their VR interface. Having Pokémon run and roam around before eyes is totally awesome, but I envision that having towering Transformers stomp about will be even more exhilarating. Niantic is best known for Pokémon Go, but I’m glad that they’re expanding their scope and collaborating with other brands on VR games like this and Pikmin, which I talk about in one of my previous blogs.

Niantic has been good enough to give us a brief description of what the game will be about and it will be presented to gamers. According to the info provided, players will be invited to link up with a network of humans and Autobots, who have joined forces to combat the deadly Decepticons. This team is known as the Guardian Network. 

Once inducted as a Guardian, players will be tasked with discovering secret regions that are spread across the map. In these regions, resources are waiting to be recovered, but not without the Decepticons having anything to say about it. In order to successfully retain those valuable resources, players will have to duke it out with the Decepticons in turn-based battles, which can be done with friends or all alone if they so desire.

Here are a couple of screenshots that have been released for a better look:

Can you imagine seeing these Autobots and Decepticons in 3D while you’re on lunch or walking home from school? Just thinking about it makes me want to fast forward to later this year. Presumably, the fall, which is fine by me since I’m not a huge fan of the summers where I live. I wish we had an exact date or some kind of window for when we can expect Transformers: Heavy Metal to be released, but I guess we’re just going to have to be patient and that it’s a virtue, as most people suggest. 

There’s a great deal of expectation linked to this game, as you can imagine since Niantic has hit a virtual home run with games like Pokémon Go. And the fact that they’ve teamed up with Hasbro on this project makes it even more important for Niantic to give this game the same dose of magic that they’ve become known for. 

I’m waiting for more info to come out in dribs and drabs over the next couple of months or so, including platforms, price, previews, etc. I would also like to see some kind of demo of how this would work/look on mobile as well. But, as I said before, we’ll just have to stick with the little bits of info that we have now and let our imaginations fill in the blanks.

Again, if you have any questions, comments, thoughts, or ideas on this announcement, be sure to share those with me in the comments section below. I’d like to know what your expectations are for this game and whether or not you think Niantic and Hasbro can deliver something that is just as successful and enjoyable as the products and games that they’re released in the past.

Until we meet again,

Vince The Prince