Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (“Jio”) is set to delight Indian gamers by bringing the augmented reality game ‘Pokémon GO’ to India in a partnership with Niantic – publisher and developer of Pokémon GO in association with The Pokémon Company. With this partnership, numerous Reliance Digital Stores and select partner premises in India will appear as ‘PokéStops’ or ‘Gyms’ in the Pokémon GO game beginning Wednesday, 14 December, 2016.
“We are delighted to partner with Jio to launch Pokémon GO in India.” said Niantic, CEO and founder, John Hanke. “It’s exciting to see Pokémon fans in India step out and explore their neighbourhoods in search of Pokémon and Jio’s disruptive high speed 4G LTE Network will be an excellent way to experience the game.”
The two companies will work together to bring Indians a mobile entertainment experience for Pokémon GO, including activating Jio retail locations and charging stations as PokéStops and Gyms within the game and allowing Indians to catch, train, and battle at any of Jio’s outlets throughout the country.
On Jio’s social messaging app, JioChat, Pokémon players have access to an exclusive Pokémon Go Channel. The Pokémon Go Channel will enable Pokémon Go players to collaborate and be part of a community of players with daily tips, contests, clues, and special events. The Pokémon Go Channel on JioChat a way to socialise with other players and level-up faster.
“With over 500 million downloads globally, we are excited to launch Pokémon GO officially in India on the Reliance Jio network,” said Jio, president, Mathew Oommen. “Our partnership with Niantic not only brings access to the Pokémon GO app but also opens the door to more opportunities for our customers to enjoy content on Jio’s one-of-a-kind mobile broadband network.”
During the ‘Happy New Year Offer’, Jio SIM customers will be able to download and play Pokémon GO without incurring data charges, like any other apps and content, till 31 March, 2017.