Niantic’s adorable pet game Peridot launches in May

It’s the next major release from the studio behind Pokémon Go.

Niantic, the studio behind Pokémon Go, is releasing its next big game very soon. The developer announced that the virtual pet game Peridot, which was first announced last year, will be available on both iOS and Android on May 9th. It’ll be a global launch.

I had the chance to check out Peridot last summer, and that early version was an adorable mash-up of Pokémon Go’s augmented reality aspects with a Tamagotchi-style pet sim. In a blog post today, David Hollin, Peridot’s creative director, went into more detail about how the game will work when it does launch:

Our team has been hard at work making Peridots real. They are immersive, amazing magical creatures that eat, sleep, play with toys, explore their environment, get bored, develop unique personalities, and are always in need of a loving adopter like you.

Every Peridot is 100 percent genetically unique, too. They inherit a mix of genes from their parents that can make them blue, black, metallic, fuzzy, goat-horned, big-eared, bushy-tailed and an infinite number of other “looks.” Our team has marked a handful of these that we’ve identified as “Archetypes” (such as “Unicorn”, “Clownfish”, etc.) But if this excites you, it will be your responsibility as a Keeper to work with other Keepers to cross-Hatch your Dots and discover all the different combinations that are possible, including ones beyond all of our imaginations.

When it comes to the day-to-day however, remember that it’s every Keeper’s job first and foremost to ensure their Dots are happy, healthy, and loved. Feed your baby Dot, play with it and take it on adventures–with enough care and effort it will grow into a teenager and then an adult that can Hatch a new generation of Dots! It’s a circle of life in a way, except you can keep track of all your Dots and never have to say goodbye.

Peridot will mark Niantic’s first non-licensed game since the release of its breakout hit Ingress. Since the massive success of Pokémon Go, the company has been trying to replicate that success with other popular brands, including Pikmin Bloom, NBA All World, and the since-shuttered Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. However, to date, none of those follow-ups has proven to be a similar success, and last year, Niantic laid off 8 percent of its staff and canceled four in-development projects.

That puts a lot of pressure on Peridot when it launches in the spring. Interested players can preregister for the game starting today on both Google Play and the App Store.