The creators of the Pokémon video game, Niantic Inc., have cut 85 to 90 jobs and cancelled four projects as a result of the economic downturn.
John Hanke, the chief executive officer of Niantic Inc., acknowledged to the staff in an email reviewed by Bloomberg that the company is experiencing a financial crisis and has been working to cut costs wherever possible. The business must further streamline its operations though, as the situation is becoming more challenging.
Niantic’s vice president of communications Jonny Thaw made the following statement to The Verge: “We recently decided to stop production on some projects and reduce our workforce by about 8% to focus on our key priorities.” This allows us to concentrate on our top priorities, such as Pokémon Go and a limited number of other novel experiences as well as the Lightship platform, he continued.
Up to 8% of the company’s workforce, or 85 to 90 employees, have been let go. The projects that were cancelled include Heavy Metal, Hamlet, a Niantic and Punchdrunk collaboration, Blue Sky, and Snowball.
Since it debuted in 2016, Niantic Inc. is renowned for the enormous success of Pokémon Go. The business hasn’t produced anything that compares to its success, though.
