GAME DEVELOPERS CAN USE GOOGLE MAPS TO BUILD THE NEXT 'POKéMON GO'

Google wants to help game developers build the next Pokémon Go. The company announced that it is opening Google Maps to game developers who want to use its data to build location-based games similar to Pokémon Go.

With the new APIs, the entirety of Google Maps essentially becomes a massive canvas for game developers to build on top of. Instead of manually creating map-based models, game developers will be able to simply pull data from Google Maps, including 3D rendering of buildings, landmarks, and roads directly into their development software.

Needless to say, this is a huge deal for any developer interested in creating a location-based game. Google's mapped millions and millions of objects, all of which can now easily be programmed into a mobile game.

"You're taking away what would otherwise be an enormous hurdle," says Google Maps product manager, Clementine Jacoby.

It should come as good news to Pokémon Go enthusiasts, who should expect to see a lot more augmented reality games flood the scene within the next few months.

The developers that are interested in this opportunity can find out more about the new Google Maps APIs on the company's developer site. Google will also be demoing the new tools at next week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.