HONG KONG — For a few heady months in 2016, Pokémon Go transformed the morning commute for millions of people into a critter-hunting safari, populating the ordinary world with a reality-augmented menagerie of Pikachus, Charmanders and Eevies. Pokémon’s chief executive, Tsunekazu Ishihara, said Wednesday that the Japanese franchise planned to release a new game called Pokémon Sleep in 2020 aimed at nothing less than taking the world of video games into dreamland. “The concept of this game is for players to look forward to waking up every morning,” Mr. Ishihara announced at a news conference in Tokyo. Or as another game executive said, Pokémon Sleep would find ways to “reward good sleep habits.”Pokémon Go was one of the first games to use augmented-reality technology when it was introduced in July 2016. Before long, 28.5 million users were roaming the streets at odd hours, eyes glued to their smartphones, even stumbling into unexpected places.

Source: New York Times May 29, 2019 13:52 UTC