Transformers AR Game In The Works At Pokemon GO Dev Niantic

Pokemon GO developer Niantic made a rather surprising reveal today: the company, as it turns out, is working on a new Transformers mobile game. The new game is called Transformers: Heavy Metal and like other titles made under Niantic's roof, it'll be an AR game. How it'll use augmented reality is currently unknown, but Niantic suggests that it won't be much longer until at least some of us find out.

Unfortunately, details about Transformers: Heavy Metal are a little thin on the ground at the moment. There wasn't a trailer accompanying today's announcement, nor was there really any description of how the game will play. All we know is that we'll be teaming up with the Autobots – specifically Bumblebee – but that, obviously, doesn't tell us very much.

"In thinking about franchises that would be incredible to bring to life in AR, Transformers was a no-brainer," Transformers: Heavy Metal executive producer Phil Hong said in today's announcement. "This will be a Transformers game unlike any other, an AR game where you'll get to team up with the likes of Bumblebee and the Autobots in the real world, powered by the Niantic Lightship platform."

Niantic, of course, struck gold with Pokemon GO, a game that still touts an impressive number of players even years after release. In the time since Pokemon GO released, Niantic also launched Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and has announced that it's working on new AR games for the CATAN and Pikmin franchises. One thing to note is that it seems like Niantic is only acting as publisher for this game, as it says that Seattle's Very Very Spaceship is the development studio tasked with making Transformers: Heavy Metal.

At this point, we're not sure when, exactly, Transformers: Heavy Metal will launch, but in today's announcement, Hong says that it'll "enter soft launch in select countries soon, and global launch is planned for later this year." We'll keep an ear to the ground for more on Transformers: Heavy Metal, and we'll let you know when Niantic releases new information about the game.