Nintendo Co., the Pokemon Co. and Niantic, a Google spin-off company, made a joint announcement on Thursday, mentioning that they will employ virtual reality technology using a smartphone application that will allow users to play "Pokemon Go." 

The highly-anticipated title lets players catch, trade and stage battles between the monsters in real-world locations. The game, however, won't be released until 2016, the Associated Press reports. 

"Nintendo has created a wide variety of games and game devices. All of them have helped to expand the game population," Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto told the site. 

"Pokemon GO and Pokemon GO Plus represent another step in realizing that mission."

Pokemon GO Plus is an optional complementary device that allows gamers to receive notifications of nearby Pokemon and in-game actions, such as battle challenges, without having to check their smartphones. The complementary device functions via Bluetooth capabilities. 

Watch a gameplay trailer for "Pokemon GO" below:

Niantic, which is known for its augmented reality mobile game "Ingress," was founded in 2010 as an internal startup at Google. Nintendo and the Pokemon Co., both based in Japan, were founded in 1889 and 1995 respectively.