Niantic had a huge success with Pokémon GO, but no other title could match that success. Now the studio is laying off 8% of its employees, which affects about 85 to 90 staff members.
Which development studio is it? Niantic is a US-based development studio located in San Francisco, primarily known for developing games with augmented reality.
The flagship of the company is the mobile game Pokémon GO, which according to the business platform sensortower.com has recorded more than 6 billion US dollars in player spending worldwide in the App Store and on Google Play.
However, other titles besides Pokémon GO could not meet expectations at Niantic. For instance, the 2019-released Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was shut down this year. The games Pikmin and Catan also remained unsuccessful.
Economic crisis at Niantic
Why is Niantic laying off employees? A spokesperson from Niantic stated that the company recently decided to halt the production of some projects. Additionally, they want to reduce the workforce by about 8% to focus on the studio’s key priorities.
Furthermore, the American news magazine Bloomberg.com reported an email to employees in which Niantic CEO John Hanke wrote that the company is facing an economic crisis (“economic turmoil”).
According to Bloomberg, the email further stated that Niantic has already reduced costs in various areas and the company now needs to position itself as best as possible to weather “all economic storms” that may lie ahead.
Which projects were canceled? According to the Bloomberg report, the canceled projects at Niantic include a Transformers spin-off called Heavy Metal and a project named Hamlet, which was a collaboration with Punchdrunk.
The other two projects were named “Blue Sky” and “Snowball.”
Into the future with Peridot and the NBA
What projects does Niantic plan for the future? Niantic recently introduced a new project called NBA ALL-World, which represents a collaboration with the American National Basketball Association (NBA). In the game, you will explore your surroundings like in Pokémon GO, but instead of little pocket monsters, you will collect NBA players.
Another game that Niantic is focusing on is Peridot. Augmented reality plays a significant role again. The focus here is on taming, raising, and breeding virtual pets.
If you want to learn more about Niantic’s new hope Peridot and are interested in how it compares to Pokémon GO, MeinMMO author Max Handwerk has taken a closer look at what connects or distinguishes the two games.
