An augmented reality game based on the famed Pokémon franchise is in the works for iOS and Android, the Pokémon Company announced today. Pokémon Go will use real locations to encourage players to "explore their neighbourhoods, communities, and the world" in order to capture new Pokémon. It's due for release in 2016, and will be free, albeit with as-yet-undisclosed in-app purchases.

Exact details on how Pokémon Go will work are thin on the ground, but a teaser trailer (posted above) shows players exploring the streets to capture Pokémon, trading them between their devices, and taking part in large-scale multiplayer battles either against other players, or against legendary Pokémon like Mewtwo. A brief snippet of gameplay also showed that the game will also feature 3D graphics.

How the series' traditional and much-loved RPG mechanics will make it into Pokémon Go remains to be seen, but it does at least look like it's in good hands. Pokémon Go is being developed by Niantic, the former Google subsidiary known for creating the sci-fi augmented reality game Ingress. Junichi Masuda of Game Freak, game director of the Pokémon series, is also contributing to the project.

A small wrist-worn device called Pokémon Go Plus will also be released alongside the game, allowing players to receive notifications about events in the game like the appearance of a nearby Pokémon. Players will also be able to catch Pokémon by pressing a button on top of the device. Pokémon Go Plus connects to smartphones via Bluetooth, and will feature LED and vibration alerts. There's no word yet on how much it'll cost.

Pokémon Go technically isn't the first augmented reality Pokémon game to hit mobile. As part of an April fools prank last year, Google hid hundreds of Pokémon across the world for people to try and catch. Pokémon Go might also not be an entirely separate game to the main series, with Game Freak looking at ways to "connect this project with the main series of Pokémon video games."

Earlier this year, Nintendo—the parent company of the Pokémon Company—announced that it would begin developing games for mobile devices in partnership with Japanese developer and publisher DeNA. Nintendo originally said that the first of those games was due to arrive later this year, but it's not yet clear whether Pokémon Go is that game.