Pokemon Company's latest game rewards good sleeping habits

"Pokemon Sleep" tracks player sleep patterns and has been announced alongside a Pokemon cloud service that lets users continue games across several devices. There are also new games for iOS and Nintendo Switch, plus an expanded clothing range.

The Pokemon Company on Tuesday unveiled "Pokemon Sleep," a forthcoming game and device combo that awards points for sleeping. Due to launch in 2020, it will use a new version of the existing Pokemon GO Plus controller, called Pokemon GO Plus+, to track and send player sleep data to iPhone.

"What if you could continuing training your Pokemon... even in your sleep?" the Pokemon company said in a tweeted announcement. "In 2016, 'Pokemon GO' turned the simple act of walking into entertainment, making the entire world into a game. We're about to do it again, Trainers - this time, for sleeping."

"We're pleased to announce the development of 'Pokemon Sleep', a new app... that tracks a user's time sleeping and brings a gameplay experience unlike any other," continued the company. "Several Snorlax were consulted on this, in case you were wondering."

The new Pokemon GO Plus+ device

The Pokemon GO Plus+ (pronounced "plus plus") can be used in the daytime as a regular Pokemon GO Plus to capture Pokemon and collect items from PokeStops. At night, though, place it on a bed and it will track what Kazuhiro Maruyama of Nintendo's Hardware Development Group describes as "simple information" about how long users sleep. That information is then transmitted to a Pokemon Sleep app on an iPhone or Android device.

The announcement of "Pokemon Sleep" came alongside a slew of other releases that were centered on a new cloud service called Pokemon HOME.

The aim of the cloud service is to let users continue playing Pokemon across several devices and to trade with friends. It's due to launch in early 2020 and will initially be available on iOS, Android and Nintendo Switch.

Also coming to iOS and Android is a new game called "Pokemon Masters," launching in June 2019. "'Pokemon Masters' lets players experience a new type of Pokemon battling on the go, and it features many famous Pokemon Trainers from the long history of Pokemon video games," said the company in a statement. "Gameplay has been optimized for smart devices, allowing anyone to casually pick it up and play."

The Pokemon company also announced plans for a new "Detective Pikachu" game for the Nintendo Switch and that the Pokemon range of clothing is coming to the U.S.

These announcements follow the recent news that the free-to-play Pokemon game "Rumble Rush" will arrive soon on iOS.