Compiled by: Sharya Sharma
Last updated: June 30, 2023, 3:11 PM IST
San Francisco, California, USA
Niantic is letting go of 230 employees.
Niantic, the developer of the hugely popular mobile game Pokémon GO, is undergoing organizational changes, including laying off 230 employees and halting development of some games.
Niantic, the developer of the hugely popular mobile game Pokémon GO, is undergoing organizational changes, including laying off 230 employees and halting development of some games. The company focuses on Pokémon GO and “long-term opportunities”.
Niantic CEO John Hanke admitted that the company’s expenses grew faster than revenues, and due to the “increase in revenue” during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s headcount and related expenses increased; Niantic expanded existing game teams and “aggressively” pursued growth.
But – after the pandemic – Hanke notes, “revenues returned to pre-Covid levels and new projects in games and platforms have not generated revenue commensurate with those investments.”
Now the company claims its priorities are growing Pokémon GO as a “forever game”. Niantic’s investment in the product and team has also continued to grow. According to Sensor Tower, Pokémon GO has averaged about $1 billion a year since its launch in July 2016.
In addition to the round of layoffs, the company is also closing NBA All-World and stopping development on Marvel: World of Heroes. “We are shrinking and focusing our platform team in line with the reduced number of games we are building, with the goal of doing less, better,” added Hanke.
Further, John Hanke said the company continues to believe in augmented reality (AR), and now mixed reality (MR). He notes that the recent proliferation of the concept with devices such as the Meta Quest Pro and Apple Vision Pro “confirms the long-term importance of AR.”
