Google LLC wants the next “Pokemon Go” to be built with Google Maps, so the company announced today that it has released new applications programming interfaces that make it easier for game developers build real-world augmented reality games using Google Maps.

“The mobile gaming landscape is changing as more and more studios develop augmented reality games,” said Clementine Jacoby, product manager for Google Maps APIs. “In order to mix realities, developers first need to understand the real world — the physical environment around their players.”

Jacoby added that building atop Google Maps’ infrastructure will mean “faster response times, the ability to scale on demand, and peace of mind knowing that your game will just work.”

The new APIs will feed Google Maps data directly into Unity 3D, a popular game engine that is often used for creating mobile and augmented reality games. The APIs convert real locations into 3-D objects in Unity, which allows developers to tweak their appearance to match their game world.

That also makes it easier for developers to create massive, open worlds without having to build them from scratch or rely on random generation. According to Jacoby, the Google Maps integration adds more than 100 million 3-D buildings, roads, landmarks and parks from more than 200 countries.

Real-world mobile games have been around for a few years, but the runaway success of “Pokemon Go” in 2016 proved just how popular the genre can be. Today, companies such as Google, Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. are locked in an augmented reality arms race, and each is hoping to make its respective platforms as enticing to developers as possible. For example, both Google and Apple have released frameworks that make it easier for developers to create and publish augmented reality content for Android and iOS.

The new Google Maps APIs are available now, but a few game studios have already been able to test them out. Some of the real-world games made with Google Maps include major franchises such as “The Walking Dead” and “Ghostbusters.” Alexandre Thabet, chief executive of Ludia, which is developing a game based on “Jurassic World,” said that the Unity integration allowed the studio to “focus our time and energy on building detailed virtual experiences for our users to find virtual dinosaurs in the real world.”

Photo: Google