Google Maps is now officially a gaming platform

Google wants to help developers build the next Pokémon Go.

The company announced that it's opening Google Maps to game developers who want to use its data to build location-based games similar to Pokémon Go.

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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, developers will simply be able to pull Google Maps data, including 3D renderings of buildings, landmarks, and roads, directly into their game development software.

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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 be easily brought into a mobile game.

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

It should also come as good news to Pokémon Goenthusiasts, who should expect to see a lot more augmented reality games flood the scene in the next few months. (There are already a handful of games that've been announced that use the Google Maps APIs, including Jurassic World Alive, Ghostbusters World, and The Walking Dead: Our World.)

Interested developers 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.

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