Pokemon Go May Be Looking to Increase India Presence

Pokemon Go Niantic may want to set up shop in India. A new job listing on LinkedIn posted by Alan Mandujano, Niantic’s Growth and Business Development Manager for Emerging Markets, shows that the company is looking to hire employees on a contract basis to “generate momentum and engage the local Pokemon Go community”. Specifically, Niantic is looking for ‘Local Growth Scouts’ in India to perform tasks like local content creation, business development, event planning, and a secure POI database to enable local points of interest in the Pokemon Go game.

At LinkedIn job postingpoint first by IGN India, their clue Pokemon Go may be looking to increase its presence in India. Gamer Niantic scouting for local talent that can generate momentum, attending industry events in the country’s ‘biggest city’, and planning meetups for members of the Pokemon Go community. Employees should also generate social buzz by writing blog posts, articles, social media posts, and newsletters. The project list shows that Niantic sees India as a strategic market.

Being home to the next billion smartphone users, India could be a place of great potential for Niantic. While the pandemic is most unfavorable for AR-focused games that require players to go outside, Niantic changed the game mechanics of Pokemon Go in April last year to allow players to have fun indoors.

Last year, Sensor Tower reported that Pokemon Go had a lifetime collection of $3.6 billion (roughly Rs. 26,940 crores) since its launch on July 6, 2016. In the first half of 2020, the game showed a collection of $445 million (roughly Rs .3,330 crores) due to the changes in the game mechanics corresponding to the key.

It remains to be seen what exactly Niantic has in store for the Indian market. The company seems to be in the early hiring stages, so it may be a while before we see any real news on this front.