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Nintendo files Chinese trademarks for Pokémon Go in China, where the mobile AR game is currently banned

  • Pokémon Go was banned in China just months after the game launched in 2016
  • Tencent and NetEase are working on separate Pokémon games

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A smartphone showing Pokémon Go is seen in front of a stall on July 25, 2016, in Hong Kong, where the game is not banned. Photo: Bloomberg

China has kept Pokémon Go outside its borders for years, but several new trademarks are reviving hopes that the blockbuster game might eventually arrive in the country.

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It’s been recently revealed that last month, Nintendo applied for two trademarks using the simplified Chinese name for Pokémon Go, according to a National Intellectual Property Administration database. And that’s not all: The record shows that Nintendo has been filing for dozens of Pokémon-related trademarks for months now. They include names of Pokémon like Pikachu and Jigglypuff, as well as games like Pokémon Ga-Olé.

Pokémon Go has been banned in China since 2017 seemingly because of its gameplay. The augmented reality game has players catch virtual Pokémon by travelling to specific locations in the real world. The function was deemed “a big social risk” by regulators, who said it posed a threat to pedestrians and road safety.

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Taiwanese grandfather plays Pokemon Go with 64 phones

Taiwanese grandfather plays Pokemon Go with 64 phones
US company Niantic, which makes Pokémon Go in collaboration with Nintendo, said in 2018 that it wanted to bring the game to China. At the time, Niantic was reportedly partnering up with Chinese gaming giant NetEase, but the plans haven’t materialised so far.

NetEase finally announced last year that it was working on the first Pokémon mobile game for China, but it had nothing to do with Pokémon Go. Instead, NetEase is collaborating with Japanese studio Game Freak on a Chinese version of Pokémon Quest. The role-playing game, launched globally in 2018, lets players train Pokémon and go on adventures.

Meanwhile, NetEase rival Tencent is also preparing to release its own Pokémon title. The company announced in June that it’s creating Pokémon Unite, an original MOBA game made by Tencent’s TiMi Studios for smartphones and the Nintendo Switch.

We reached out to Niantic, NetEase and Nintendo partner Tencent with questions about the future of Pokémon Go in China, but they weren’t immediately available for comment.

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