United States: The popular mobile game “Pokemon Go” was released seven years ago, and now its developers want to give their new basketball game the same “real-world” appeal. While “Pokemon Go” players were guided by their mobile devices to actual sites where they could find magical creatures to collect, “NBA All-World” players can challenge one another to games on the street.

The chief of Niantic, the company that produces both games, Mr. John Hanke, stresses that, like Pokemon, gamers of the NBA game will only need a mobile phone and won’t need to purchase pricey VR headgear or goggles.

The boss is promoting this hybrid game as a “real-world metaverse,” setting it apart from experience favoured by Microsoft and others, in which users sit at home wearing masks. Players get to meet and play other people in the street in “NBA All-World,” which will be released this week in France and everywhere else.

Mr. Hanke claimed that the social component of the game made mobile phones the ideal platform for playing. It is portable and affordable, and practically everyone has one, he claimed. With microtransactions, Niantic is aiming to make money. Players may spend modest sums of money on virtual products that let them progress through the game more quickly or customise their avatars with sneakers from companies like Adidas or Puma.

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