You’ll be able to battle your pals in Pokémon Go by the end of 2018

• Niantic EMEA Head of Marketing confirms PvP battles will come to Pokémon Go before the end of 2018.
• More Pokémon will also be added in the future (although we could have guessed that already).
• Harry Potter: Wizards Unite also apparently still on track for a 2018 release.

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Pokémon Go developer Niantic finally added trading to its hit AR mobile game in June, but the major feature additions are set to carry on rolling in. Niantic’s EMEA Head of Marketing confirmed in a recent interview (via Pocket Gamer) that PvP battles will come to Pokémon Go before the end of the year.

Speaking to Polish publication Gram at an event for Niantic’s first location-based project, Ingress, Anne Beuttenmüller said (via Google Translate): “We are constantly improving the elements that we have available in the game and the next thing that we want to add at the end of this year is the PvP mode.”

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Beuttenmüller also noted that the Californian studio is working on a number of changes for the friend system currently in place to support trading mechanics.

These include a way to “segregate” your friends list and add notes to each friend so you can easily remember who they are (friends are currently only listed by their trainer names).

Elsewhere in the interview we get confirmation that more Pokémon will be added in the future, but that shouldn’t come as surprise to anyone. Niantic has been slowly introducing new generations of pocket monsters every year. The next phase should see generation four’s critters from Nintendo’s Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum games let loose in the wild.

Aside from Pokémon Go, Beuttenmüller also talked at length about Ingress and Niantic’s next major project, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Despite refusing to comment on gameplay, she did confirm that the game is still expected to launch on Android and iOS devices before the end of 2018.

Previous reports had suggested the second title to release under the Harry Potter-themed Portkey Games banner — following the not-so-great Hogwarts Mystery — may be pushed back to 2019.

Are you excited to take on your friends and family in heated Pokémon Go battles? Let us know in the comments.

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