*UPDATE (14/07/16): Following the discovery of McDonald’s in Pokémon GO’s files, Gizmodo has been doing extra digging and a source has come out to them and confirmed the Pokémon GO/McDonalds’ partnership is confirmed and will debut in an unnamed Asian country. Furthermore, according to the source in question, every McDonalds’ in this Asian territory will either become a PokéStop or a Gym. For now this is all we have, but as soon as any new information comes, we’ll be more than happy to report on it!
If I had to pick a single positive about Pokémon GO it would be the exercise aspect of it, engaging users to get out and about, just so they can catch Pokémon, hatch eggs and even visit PokéStops, but now it is looking like all that could change.
Yesterday Niantic, the developers behind Pokémon GO, revealed that they would soon be adding sponsored locations to the game as PokéSpots, meaning if you’re a business and you want more custom, you can become a sponsor to the app and have your place of business become a new PokéSpot in order to draw people in. Now this isn’t anything new of course, as Niantic did do the same with Ingress, but whereas yesterday John Hanke was revealing this, along with saying that sponsored locations will be announced soon, it seems we may know of one already.
Thanks to a student in Australia, by the name of Manu Gill, Gill discovered in the code for Pokémon GO a reference to a fast food restaurant, but where he got no further, Redditor KcYoung was able to discover the logo of the restaurant and it is no other than McDonalds and honestly although it was something we would expect, I don’t think it is a good fit for Pokémon GO. There users are, walking set amount of distances, hoping to hatch eggs, when Bam! A PokéSpot has popped up and it’s a McDonalds. Walking around and exercising is thirsty work, but if PokéSpots are going to be leading you to the home of milkshakes, burgers and fries, are you honestly telling me you wouldn’t go in and get a drink or something else?
Sure arguably, most will have the will power to walk away from the first one, but what about the next PokéStop restaurant that pops up? Worse yet is you could even argue with yourself that you should go in, because the items you collected from the PokéStop, you’ll be able to collect again in around five minutes after the PokéStop finishes, so you may as well go in and get a drink, because then you could use the free wifi for a bit, as you wait for the PokéStop to refresh and spend the time catching a Pokémon or two.
You could even argue that while you are inside your McDonalds PokéStop, you’re not out in the streets, facing the risks of being mugged and becoming another statistic of those becoming a victim in a Pokémon GO related crime. But yeah, you might be safe, but if Pokémon GO is a great means of exercise for you, then you owe it to yourself to not attend any sponsored locations that pertain to business in the fast food industry, unless of course it is a meal time. Then and only then, by all means feel free to get something to eat.
Still it wasn’t just McDonalds that was uncovered in the coding, but also references to trading (which we already know is on its way, which was confirmed by Hanke,) but there are references to Legendary Pokémon and new items as well, such as “Sweet Honey,” and although we don’t know much more about these details now, it is only a matter of time before it is. But back to McDonalds, how do you feel, as a Pokémon GO user knowing that PokéStops in the very near future, will be luring you to their doors, where the staff will be happy to oblige in taking whatever money you have to throw at them?
Source: Bryan Menegus of Gizmodo.com
It feels good. I love McDonalds!