Massive Layoffs at Pokemon GO Devs; Two Projects Canceled
Niantic will focus on the development of Pokemon GO, but will also make efforts to ensure that other new games (besides the canceled Marvel World of Heroes and NBA All-World) also conquer the mobile market.
Fans of Niantic have another reason to worry. Developers of Pokemon GO have laid off 230 employees and canceled two projects, with Marvel: World of Heroes at the forefront.
The information was provided by John Hanke, CEO of Niantic Labs, in a message to employees, which also hit the company's official website. As he stated, the company's earnings have returned to normal after a surge in revenue and massive hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic era.
The studio's new projects turned out to be less profitable than expected. This is, on the one hand, the result of greater competition in the mobile market (debuts of new titles are more difficult), and on the other hand, changes in the platforms and marketing of this segment.
Hanke also admitted that this is partly the fault of the studio itself, which apparently insufficiently focused on the "stunning quality and innovation" (and "strong monetization") necessary in today's mobile game market.
Therefore Niantic will focus mainly on the development of Pokemon GO, for it to be "healthy" and become a "forever game", as well as on the development of augmented reality (AR) technology. However, the company also continues to make efforts to make its other games successful as well.
- The second work abandoned by Niantic is NBA All-World - a title that debuted barely five months ago.
- Monster Hunter Now, Peridot and Pikmin Bloom will continue to be developed. The same goes for Ingressa, as announced in a separate announcement on the game's official website.
This is not the first major layoff at Niantic. A year ago, 90 people had to leave the company, and Transformers: Heavy Metal and three projects known only by their titles: Hamlet, Blue Sky and Snowball were put in the garbage can.
The layoff of more than two hundred employees may not make one optimistic about the company's future. Perhaps, as some fans believe, the developers' focus on developing the Pokemon GO instead of more failing projects will benefit players.
Another issue is that PoGO players lack faith in Niantic Labs after the company's recent actions, most notably raising the price of remote raids almost twice, and because of frequent errors during events. Players also have concerns about Ingressa, especially since there apparently aren't many of them left (via various Reddit threads). What the future holds for fans of Niantic games - time will tell.
