Niantic is laying off 230 employees and closing its Los Angeles studio as it refocuses on its most successful game, Pokémon Go. In an email sent to staff on Thursday, Niantic CEO John Hanke announced the layoffs and closures.
The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring effort by the company. Niantic CEO John Hanke said that the layoffs were necessary due to a “tough market environment” and the company’s “faster than revenue” growth.
In addition to the layoffs, Niantic is also canceling NBA All-World and Marvel: World of Heroes. Both games were in development for several years, but they were not as successful as Pokémon Go. Hanke said that Niantic is “focusing on our core products” and that the company is “not in a position to invest further” in the two canceled games.
Niantic will continue to support its other games, including Pikmin Bloom, Monster Hunter Now, and Peridot. The company is also committed to augmented reality (AR) and will continue to invest in AR technology.
The layoffs and cancellations at Niantic are a sign of the challenges facing the AR industry. AR is a promising technology, but it has yet to achieve widespread adoption. Niantic is one of the few companies that has been able to successfully launch an AR game, but even Pokémon Go has faced challenges in recent years.
The layoffs and cancellations at Niantic are a setback for the AR industry, but they do not mean that AR is dead. The technology is still in its early stages, and there is still potential for AR to become a major force in the gaming industry.
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