Niantic cancels 4 projects, fires 90 employees – News

In an internal email received by Bloomberg to employees, Niantic CEO John Hanke explained that the company is facing “period of economic turmoil“And that it must take additional measures in order to”Dealing with the next potential economic storms“And that’s even if Niantic already has it.”Reduce costs in different regions* “Can we read.

Bloomberg explains that canceled projects include heavy metala game based on the Transformers license announced last year, and villagein collaboration with Punchdrunk, a well-known immersive theater troupe sleep no more. The other two projects that were canceled are Codename the sky is blue And the snowball.

Founded in 2010 and specializing in augmented reality technologies, Niantic exploded in the eyes of the world thanks to Pokemon GO, which has remained one of the world’s highest-grossing mobile games, generating at least $1 billion annually since its launch in 2016, according to estimates from Sensor Tower. With a direct impact on Niantic’s finances but also on the resources of the Pokémon Company.

A success Niantic couldn’t replicate with her later projects, including Harry Potter: Wizards Unite which closed its doors this year. Other projects like those based on board game Kattan Or the Pikmin Bloom walking simulator went unnoticed. The studio announced earlier this week NBA all the worlda new game in augmented reality which will therefore become her new priority with Pokemon GO.

“We recently decided to stop production on some projects and reduce our workforce by about 8% to focus on our main priorities. We are grateful for the contributions of those who left Niantic and support them during this difficult transition.A Niantic spokesperson confirmed.

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