Catan: World Explorers

Catan: World Explorers was an augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed by Niantic, based on the board game Settlers of Catan. It was announced in 2019, soft-launched in some countries the following year, and discontinued in November 2021.

Catan: World Explorers
Developer(s)
SeriesCatan
Platform(s)Android, iOS
Genre(s)Augmented reality, location-based game

Development

In late October 2019, the publisher of Catan revealed during SPIEL 2019 in Essen that the company was developing a "massively multiplayer location based game".[1][2] A promotional website was later released, which allows interested individuals to pre-register for the game.[3] Niantic later confirmed its involvement in the development process following inquiries from media outlets, noting that the upcoming game was developed on its "Real World Platform".[2][4] By June 2020, preregistration for the game had been opened.[5]

In early July 2020, the game was soft launched in New Zealand.[6]

On 1 October 2020, early access to the game was made available in Australia, Denmark, and Singapore.[7] On 1 September 2020, Switzerland got early access to the game.[8]

In September 2021, the development crew announced the game would be shutting down, citing difficulty in translating Catan into an MMO game. The game was removed from app stores and the servers shut down on 18 November 2021.[9]

Gameplay

According to the official website, players of the game are divided into teams which compete over time to earn "victory points".[10] The game was promoted as having players developing settlements and roads while collecting resources (brick, lumber, grain, ore, and wool), with "matches" being competitive elements at the local or global levels being held in a "season".[11] Like in prior Niantic AR games (such as Ingress and Pokémon Go), the game was set to be centered around real-world landmarks, where players could collect resources in-game.[11]

References
  1. "CATAN - World Explorers angekündigt". catan.de (in German). 28 October 2019. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  2. "Is this Niantic's next game?". TechCrunch. 19 November 2019. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  3. Forde, Matthew (20 November 2019). "Location-based Catan: World Explorers mobile game using Niantic's Real World Platform". pocketgamer.biz. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  4. Stephen, Bijan (21 November 2019). "Catan is the latest game to make the jump to AR". The Verge. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  5. "Pokémon Go maker Niantic's next game is Catan: World Explorers". Eurogamer. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  6. Forde, Matthew (7 July 2020). "Niantic soft launches next AR title Catan: World Explorers". pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  7. "New countries added to early access". Catan World Explorers Community Forum announcement. 1 October 2020. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020.
  8. "Switzerland is added to early access". Catan World Explorers Community Forum announcement. 1 September 2020. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
  9. "CATAN – World Explorers is shutting down". Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  10. "Catan Is Being Turned Into A Pokemon Go Style Game". Kotaku Australia. 21 November 2019. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
  11. "Pokemon GO creators' next big game: CATAN World Explorers". SlashGear. 19 November 2019. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
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