Pokemon walk and Pikmin bloom Manufacturer Niantic cuts costs and cancels games. According to a new report by Bloomberg, the augmented reality technology and games maker, is laying off 8% of its staff and scrapping four projects in development. That includes two previously announced efforts, the AR game Transformers: Heavy Metal and a collaboration with the theater company Punchdrunk, known for their immersive play sleep no more
Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Niantic CEO John Hanke told employees in an email that the company was “facing a period of economic turbulence” and was trying to contain costs.
Niantic is best known for its successful mobile game Pokemon Goa sequel to its first augmented reality title penetration. launched in 2016, Pokemon Go was and is a hit for Niantic and the fifth-highest-grossing mobile game in the US in 2021, according to research firm Sensor Tower.
Niantic tried to replicate Pokemon Go‘s success with other popular properties. The company started in the summer of 2019 Harry Potter: Wizards Unitebut could not prevail on the way Pokemon Go did. Two years after the launch of the Wizard World game, Niantic announced that it would be discontinued. Niantic later teamed up with Nintendo Pikmin blooma mobile game that was a modest success, reportedly generating just $5 million in revenue — far from it Pokemon Go
Based on Bloomberg’s coverage, it appears that Niantic will continue with the recently announced advances NBA All World, a free-to-play game in which players collect NBA stars, polish and customize them with items collected from visiting real-world locations, and compete against other players in one-on-one matches compete in their neighborhood squares and other places. Niantic also has an original virtual pet game, peridotin development, which has already been tentatively rolled out and is scheduled for a larger release this year.
