Industry followers predict that the major update for "Pokémon GO" will come early next year, possibly in May at the latest.

According to OtakuKart, developer Niantic Labs has already laid out some of its planned updates for "Pokémon GO," including the expected gen-2 major update. Reportedly, the major patch will go live early next year, and quite possibly start the global update in May at the earliest. While Niantic Labs has not confirmed a specific schedule, a May 2017 release for the update is already expected, given that the studio has broken down its intended updates into staggered releases. For "Pokémon GO," the latest expansion expected to go live next month is the new trading system.

Meanwhile, when the new feature has rolled out, it will be followed by another new gameplay improvement — introducing trainer battles to "Pokémon GO." The update is expected to commence either by December this year or early January next year.

Once the gameplay improvements have been laid out, the major content expansion for "Pokémon GO" is the next update on schedule. Reportedly, the major update will add at least 100 new Pokémon from the second-generation roster, as well as different evolutions for existing creatures, like legacy evolution. This means that there will be additional growth paths for Pokémon. For example, the new update will add Slowking to the evolution of Slowpoke, aside from the current-generation Slowbro. Zubat and Golbat will add another Pokémon evolution in the inventory, in the form of second-generation Crobat.

Aside from new content, other gameplay patches not included in the previous two updates will also go live, including candy farming and Pokémon breeding. There will also be customizable Pokéstops in the new update, although it is still a mystery how customization options will be given to players, or to what extent can players control each Pokéstop.