Niantic Announces Restructuring, LA Studio Closure, And Hundreds Of Layoffs

Pokemon Go developer Niantic is facing a major financial crisis and will subsequently be restructuring and laying off hundreds of employees. As part of the restructuring, the company will be downsizing teams, closing its LA studio, and making other necessary reductions. It will also be shutting down shutting down NBA All-World, stopping development on Marvel: World of Heroes, and laying off around 230 of its employees.

Niantic CEO John Hanke broke the unfortunate news to the studio’s employees yesterday, saying that the company’s earnings aren’t enough to cover its growing post-COVID expenses, especially after its new projects failed to take off. He cited the unexpected changes in the economy and the mobile gaming market as the main reasons for the company’s declining revenue.

“We also bear responsibility for our own performance,” he admitted. “Today’s highly competitive mobile gaming market requires dazzling quality and innovation. It also requires strong monetization and a social core which can drive viral growth and long term engagement.”

“Teams need platform tools that are force multipliers, enabling them to build at the highest quality with powerful engagement features quickly and efficiently,” he continued. “Our AR map and platform must deliver the features that developers want in a robust and reliable way. We have not met our goals in all of these areas.”

The Pokemon Go team apparently didn’t have immunity from the layoffs despite being one of the biggest revenue generators for the company. Niantic, however, isn’t abandoning the game just yet. “The top priority is to keep Pokemon GO healthy and growing as a forever game,” said Hanke. “While we made some adjustments to the Pokémon GO team, our investment in the product and team continues to grow.” He also promises to continue to develop and support Monster Hunter Now, Peridot, and Pikmin Bloom.