The developers of Pokémon GO draw a hard balance. They shut down two of their games and fire a lot of people. We at MeinMMO show you what exactly happened and what Niantic’s new goals are.
What’s going on at Niantic? The game developer of Pokémon GO is apparently going through difficult times. They now want to counteract this and have had to make difficult decisions for this reason. Not only will two of their games be discontinued, but some of their employees will lose their jobs. And this isn’t the first time. As early as 2022, Niantic laid off 8% of their employees.
We have summarized below which games are involved, how Pokémon GO is doing and why Niantic made these decisions.
Developer makes tough decisions for the future
What games are you talking about? Niantic only released the mobile game NBA-All-World in January 2023, which was intended to appeal to basketball fans in particular. But that should now be the end of it, as the developers announced in a comprehensive statement on the evening of June 29, 2023.
And the basketball game is not the only one. The development of the game Marvel: World of Heroes is also stopped and 230 employees are laid off. On the blog, for example, you can find an e-mail from CEO John Hanke to his employees, in which he writes the following:
I want to share some news with you about the steps we’re taking to make Niantic future-proof. They mean some difficult changes for our organization, but I believe they are important if we are to meet the current challenges in the market and capitalize on the long-term opportunities that lie ahead.
I have made the decision to narrow our focus for mobile gaming investments by focusing on first-party games that best embody our core values of location and local social communities. The mobile gaming market is very mature and only the best and most differentiated titles stand a chance of success. We also want to focus more on the development of products for the emerging class of MR devices and future AR glasses.
Specifically, this means we will be closing our LA studio, downsizing our gaming platform team, and making further cuts across the organization. As a result, we will be discontinuing NBA All-World and ending production on Marvel: World of Heroes. That means we’ll be releasing about 230 Niantics.
John Hanke via nianticlabs.com
Why is Niantic doing this? Accordingly, these serious measures are necessary so that the company can prepare for the future. Here, Hanke mentions in particular the excessive increase in expenses compared to their income. Thus, during the pandemic, they have seen an increase in sales and as a result have hired staff and pushed new games.
After the pandemic, sales then fell again and their new projects did not bring as much success as hoped. In order to be able to position yourself permanently on the market, these steps were therefore necessary. Now Niantic wants to undertake new strategies in relation to AR systems and their games.
What about the future of Pokémon GO?
Pokémon GO has top priority: Pokémon GO fans can breathe a sigh of relief as the developer’s biggest game, which turns 7 this year, is set to become a top priority. According to this, Niantic’s resources should be used more for the small pocket monsters in the future, so that it becomes a forever game.
That’s why Niantic made adjustments to the Pokémon GO team and it should grow. In addition, the developer plans further investments in this product. About this he writes:
The top priority is to keep Pokémon GO healthy and develop as a game forever. While we’ve made some adjustments to the Pokémon GO team, our investment in the product and the team will continue to grow.
John Hanke via nianticlabs.com
What exactly this means for the content in Pokémon is not clear from Niantic’s letter and therefore remains to be seen for the time being.
Remaining other Niantic games? The other games, such as Pikmin Bloom, Peridot and Monster Hunter Now, should also be pushed further. Hanke still sees potential here. So fans of the games can rejoice because they will stay too. And the AR area should also continue to be a big topic for the developer.
What is your opinion on the developer’s decisions? Do you think it’s right that Niantic is parting with some of its games? And what better content do you wish for in the future of Pokémon GO? Let us know here on MeinMMO in the comments and exchange ideas with other trainers.
But Pokémon GO has probably already heard you and finally wants to add an important raid feature.
The post Niantic closes 2 games and lays off 230 people, says: “Pokémon GO is the top priority” first appeared on Mein-MMO.de.