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Niantic, Pokemon Go Developer Shuts Studio Down & Fires 230 Employees

Anubhav — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 02:09:48 +0000

Niantic, the renowned developer behind the global phenomenon Pokémon GO, recently announced a strategic shift that will reshape its focus and direction. In an internal email to employees, CEO John Hanke outlined the company’s plans to adapt to market challenges and capitalize on long-term opportunities. By narrowing its mobile game investments and prioritizing augmented reality (AR) development, Niantic aims to maintain its position as a pioneer in the industry.

Niantic will seemingly focus on AR Technology for now

The decision to concentrate on first-party games that embody Niantic’s core values of location and local social communities reflects the company’s commitment to delivering unique and engaging experiences. While external factors such as a crowded mobile gaming market and slower-than-expected AR market development influenced the decision, Niantic acknowledges its own responsibility in meeting industry demands. By aligning its strategy and investment, Niantic aims to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape and secure its position as a leader in AR technology.

Niantic remains a staunch believer in augmented reality as the future of computing. The emergence of MR devices, such as the Meta Quest Pro and Apple Vision Pro, further validates the significance of AR in the long run. However, Niantic sees these devices as transitional steps toward the ultimate goal of true outdoor AR experiences. By adjusting its strategy, Niantic intends to strengthen its flagship title, Pokémon GO, and ensure the success of recently launched games while continuing to invest in its AR map and platform.

As part of the strategic shift, Niantic anticipates a more direct and results-oriented culture. The leadership team, committed to eliminating unnecessary processes and fostering clear decision-making, aims to cultivate a high-performance environment. Niantic remains steadfast in its mission to build purposeful products and technology that benefit both the company and its global community of developers and Niantic Explorers.

Niantic’s recent strategic shift showcases its determination to adapt to market challenges and leverage opportunities in the evolving AR landscape. By focusing on first-party games and investing in its AR platform, Niantic remains at the forefront of technological innovation. With a renewed culture and unwavering mission, the company is poised to continue shaping the future of augmented reality experiences.

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Niantic & Fold launch new AR game that lets you grab Bitcoins instead of Pokémon

Zohaib Ahmed — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 13:47:08 +0000

Niantic has collaborated with financial company Fold to create an augmented reality game called Fold AR. The game allows users to earn bitcoin and in-app benefits by exploring their physical surroundings. It is currently undergoing testing and the Fold AR team will allow a small fraction of users to test the game for a limited time daily.

Pokémon Go is an obvious inspiration for the game, but Fold’s press release has gone a step further by calling it a part of the metaverse. The difference between the two games lies in the prize – while Pokémon Go revolves around capturing cute monsters, Fold AR is based mostly on finding cubes and tapping them to reveal a prize.

And it’s the prizes bit that makes the game special, as some of them are in the form of Bitcoin in the denomination of Satoshis. Satoshis is currently a very small unit worth 1/20th of a penny. The reward also contains power-ups for the Fold app.

There’s another difference, however, concerning the world it’s set in. Fold AR doesn’t virtual locations that correspond to real-world places. Instead, the game spawns a block between 1 and 50 feet away from the player every 10 minutes, corresponding to the rate of real Bitcoin mining.

The Fold AR team hopes to add more features with time, even including one that lets players hide Bitcoins for friends to find as well as some form of NFT.

Fold CEO Will Reeves says that the goal of the game is to partly make a virtual currency feel real by creating an AR setting for it. The game is full of cryptocurrency-related memes and other related stuff, but it’s still supposed to appeal to both crypto-enthusiasts as well as regular players.

Pokémon GO has raked in $5 Billion in revenue since its release in July 2016 -Sensor Tower

Jed John Ikoba — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 06:48:06 +0000

This week makes it five years since Niantic launched its most popular game Pokemon Go. Although the frenzy surrounding the highly popular gaming isn’t as it was in 2016, the game is still extremely popular and is still generating revenue in billions for the company. Data released by research firm Sensor Tower shows that Niantic has grossed over $5 billion since it was first launched in July 2016. That’s an average of a billion yearly Sensor Tower analytics shows.

The COVID 19 induced lockdown which enveloped the entire world in 2020 has been shown to have favoured the gaming industry and Niantic’s Pokemon Go isn’t left behind. The data by sensor Tower shows that the company raked in an estimated $1.3 billion USD in 2020. This is the company’s best record year yet, far eclipsing te previous record set in 2019 when the company grossed around $400 million from Pokémon Go players.

Sensor Tower attributes the game’s success in 2020 to Niantic’s updates to the game. The company, leveraging on the lockdown, made the virtual reality game more suited to a world where it isn’t feasible for people to assemble in large crowds or go out for walks. This seems to have resonated well with fans considering the record-setting revenue.

Niantic has already hinted that it plans to revert some of the changes which were triggered by the pandemic. However, some of the changes will still be retained while a couple of new tweaks will be added. While we don’t have the data for Pokemon Go’s revenue for this year so far, the game still seems to enjoy some popularity as the company is set to host its online Pokémon Go Fest on July 17 and 18. In-person events will be hosted in some cities on July 17 with admission set at $5, down from $14.99 in previous years, as a result of the game’s five-year anniversary.

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Niantic partners Nintendo to create new mobile apps, Pikmin-based app first in line

Jed John Ikoba — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 14:15:52 +0000

Game developer Niantic has announced a joint collaboration with Nintendo to develop mobile apps and games with popular Nintendo characters present and deploying both real-world and augmented reality (AR) themes in the apps for a more engaging experience.

In a statement released by the VP of product management at Niantic, Kei Kawaii, the company expressed satisfaction at the partnership which is being kick-started with the development of an AR game based on popular Nintendo character Pikmin. The mobile gaming app is being developed at Niantic’s Tokyo studio, which is its first job since it was established in 2018.

The app includes gameplay activities aimed at enhancing or encouraging walking activities. Niantic’s CEO, John Hanke had said that the company is looking to shape the future of AR, especially in mobile applications, using Nintendo personas, stressing the forthcoming AR game has real-life connotations. It will be a mixed bag for Nintendo who is making forays into the world of mobile gaming and has enjoyed success on the traditional gaming console template over the years.

Niantic has gradually established itself in the mobile gaming spectrum with some highly successful games like Pokemon Go and Ingress and would expect the new AR game based on Pikmin to be an instant success when it is released later this year. Nintendo is also excited with the deployment of Niantic’s AR technology to project Pikmin in a more compelling and innovative manner.

According to Niantic’s VP, more details of the new partnership and the upcoming game development will be provided in the coming months as the company continues to pursue its mission to encourage people to explore the world together. Meanwhile, Niantic has created a pre-registration page for those who would like to try out the app when it rolls out.