If a summer of playing AR mobile games outside sounds like thirsty work, Niantic’s new beverage-based partnership may be the exact refreshment you need.
American bubble tea brand Kung Fu Tea has announced a year-long partnership together with Niantic and Pokémon Go specifically, transforming more than 350 of its bubble tea shops across the country into PokéStops and Gyms.
Immersing players
The partnership is fully kicking off on May 2, from which time any Kung Fu Tea location can be visited for in-game items. Of course, the brand is also hoping that Pokémon Trainers will fuel up on its boba tea, with limited-time Pokémon Go cups offering a unique immersion experience.
These commemorative cups will feature emblems of Team Instinct, Team Mystic and Team Valor.
“We are so excited for this collaboration with Niantic and Pokémon Go! Pokémon Go revolutionised the world of interactive mobile games, and Kung Fu Tea has been a proponent of community engagement and innovation in the bubble tea sphere for the past 13 years,” said Kung Fu Tea marketing manager Matthew Poveromo.
“It’s only fitting that they come together and create bigger hubs for all Trainers to fuel up and connect with others both online and off.”
As one of the 10 highest-grossing mobile game of all time, Pokémon Go celebrated lifetime player spending of $6 billion last June, generating an average $1 billion per year up to that time and pocketing the most revenue of any mobile game using the IP.
Of course, there are still other mobile Pokémon titles thiving in their own right; Pokémon Masters EX recently gave players a free Champion of choice as part of its 3.5 year anniversary celebration.
A new piece of hardware compatible with Pokémon Go named the Pokémon Go Plus + was shown off this February.