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Legendary Pokémon and PVP battling headed to Pokémon Go this summer

Along with "more value" for your choice of team.

Pokémon Go will finally get Legendary Pokémon and player-versus-player battling, in an update scheduled for "summer".

These long-awaited features will also be joined by something to "give more value to your choice of team", according to Pokémon Go developer Niantic.

It's not the first time we've heard of these much-requested gameplay ideas, but it is the first time we've had confirmation of their release window.

The news comes from Niantic exec Mathieu de Fayet, via an interview with Brazilian newspaper O Globo (thanks, Go Nintendo).

"Due to the large success of the game, we had to delay some planned innovations," de Fayet explained. "Right now we are working on some that are due to hit this summer (in the northern hemisphere), such as giving more value to the choice of the teams, releasing Legendary Pokémon and introducing PvP.

"One thing we learned with Ingress was that the game can sustain itself if we are able to create social interactions amongst players, and we are working on that."

The interview also included details of the revenue earned from the companies Pokémon Go has partnered with. In Japan, for example, the game has installed PokéStops and Gyms in branches of McDonald's.

"Partners pay $0.15 for each visitor attracted to the game," de Fayet said. "We've already attracted 500 million visitors. In Japan, each activated McDonald's store attracted 2000 visitors a day."

Some back of the envelope maths suggests this has made... a lot of money.

Legendary Pokémon Go monsters have been on the cards for a while. Indeed, the Legendary bird Pokémon Articuno was mistakenly given out to some players by Niantic - we previously spoke to someone with the creature in their game, although these were later removed.

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