The One Thing You Might Have Forgotten About Pokémon Go

The company joked about its own game in 2014.

By now, everyone has heard of Pokémon Go, the app taking over lives and actually forcing people to get off their couch.

amber discko ♡ @amberdiscko

This is the first time I've been outside in 5 years #PokemonGO

12:00 AM - 10 Jul 2016

But what you might NOT remember is that in 2014, Google released the following video as an April Fools' joke, pretty much announcing Pokémon Go two years early.

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The video acted as a fake introduction into a new part of Google Maps, allowing users to catch Pokémon in the wild.

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Ha ha ha, what a lark! Can you imagine, using Google Maps' interface to catch Pokémon in the real world?! What a great joke. OH, JK. THAT'S WHAT WE'VE ALL BEEN WASTING OUR DATA PLANS DOING THE LAST FEW DAYS!!!

But before you accuse anyone of ripping off ideas, you gotta remember that Niantic Labs was originally part of Google.

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Along with Nintendo and the Pokémon Company, Google was also a major investor in the production of the game. Not only that, but Niantic's first game, Ingress actually seems to be the foundation for which a lot of Pokémon Go's data was built.

Niantic's CEO John Hanke also said work on Pokémon Go began ~in early 2014~.

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So next time you're standing in the rain at 2am trying to catch a damn Mr. Mime, you have Google's sense of humour to thank!

4Kids Entertainment