Pokémon Go developer Niantic is shedding eight % of its workforce, which is alleged to be round 85-90 jobs. The augmented actuality sport firm has additionally canceled 4 tasks. CEO John Hanke reportedly wrote in an electronic mail to workers that Niantic was “facing a time of economic turmoil” and needed to “additional streamline our operations with the intention to greatest place the corporate” to climate any future financial turmoil.
“We recently decided to stop production on some projects and reduce our workforce by about eight percent to focus on our key priorities,” a Niantic spokesperson instructed Bloomberg, which first reported the information. “We are grateful for the contributions of those leaving Niantic and we are supporting them through this difficult transition.”
One of the video games that has been shelved is Transformers: Heavy Metal. Niantic and Hasbro introduced that title in 2021 and had been testing it in some markets since final summer season. Niantic has additionally canned an immersive theater undertaking referred to as Hamlet. It was engaged on that undertaking with theater group Punchdrunk, which is behind an immersive manufacturing of Macbeth referred to as Sleep No More. The different two shelved tasks are referred to as Blue Sky and Snowball.
Niantic hasn’t but been in a position to recapture the lightning-in-a-bottle success of 2016’s Pokémon Go. The firm shut down an AR sport primarily based on Harry Potter earlier this 12 months. Bloomberg notes that titles primarily based on Catan (which shuttered final 12 months) and Nintendo’s Pikmin have not been profitable both.
News of the layoffs and undertaking cancellations comes at some point after Niantic introduced NBA All-World, a basketball sport it is making in collaboration with the NBA and the league’s gamers’ affiliation. Meanwhile, the corporate will quickly launch an app that can assist Pokémon Go gamers chat with one another. It’s additionally engaged on an authentic sport referred to as Peridot and collaborating with different corporations on AR apps.