Press Releases 2016

3,700 SoftBank and Y!mobile Stores in Japan to Become
‘PokéStops’ and ‘Gyms’ in ‘Pokémon GO’

September 1, 2016
SoftBank Corp.

SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”), today announced a partnership agreement with Niantic, Inc. (“Niantic”) and The Pokémon Company for the smartphone game app ‘Pokémon GO’*1. With this partnership, SoftBank's network of approximately 3,700 SoftBank-branded stores*2 and Y!mobile-branded*2 stores in Japan will appear as ‘PokéStops’ or ‘Gyms’ in the Pokémon GO game from September onward*3.

Pokémon GO players can get items to catch Pokémon at PokéStops and battle other players at Gyms, which are both found at sites of historical interest, famous monuments and other locations in the real world. With this partnership agreement, SoftBank stores and Y!mobile stores will become PokéStops or Gyms. Pokémon Go collaborative campaigns and services unique to SoftBank will also be considered in the future.

The ‘Pokémon Go Trainer Guidelines’ and ‘Pokémon Go Service Agreement’ specify rules to be followed when playing Pokémon Go. SoftBank, Niantic and The Pokémon Company will jointly remind players within the app and in our terms of service that they should be aware of their surroundings, obey the law, and play safely.

[Notes]
  • *
    Corrections were made to the first paragraph and other sections of the press release. (September 1, 2016)
  • *1
    For more detail on Pokémon GO, please visit this website.
  • *2
    Excludes some non-participating stores.
  • *3
    More details will be made available at a dedicated site for players.

‘Pokémon GO’ logo / ‘PokéStops’ display images

  • SoftBank, the SoftBank name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of SoftBank Group Corp. in Japan and other countries.
  • ©2016 Niantic, Inc. ©2016 Pokémon. ©1995-2016 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc. Pokémon is a trademark of Nintendo.
  • Other company, product and service names in this press release are registered trademarks or trademarks of the respective companies.
  • The information is true and accurate at the time of publication.
    Price, specification, contact and other information of products and service may be subjected to change. The information contains certain forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements.