Halfway by 2023, mass layoffs within the tech business haven’t stopped. The most recent to affix the lengthy checklist of firms shedding workers is Niantic. The San Francisco-based software program agency, which is finest identified for the favored augmented actuality sport Pokémon Go, has introduced that it could let go of 230 workers to cut back operational prices amid an financial downturn. The corporate laid off round 90 workers in June 2022.
Like final yr, Niantic’s newest mass layoff can be accompanied by the cancelation of some tasks. The corporate is pulling the plug on the basketball sport NBA All-World nearly 5 months after its launch on app shops. It has additionally stopped the manufacturing of the Marvel-based sport Marvel: World of Heroes. Niantic canceled 4 tasks final yr, together with a Transformers sport known as Heavy Metallic.
These aren’t the one cost-cutting measures from Niantic, although. With fewer workers and fewer tasks to work on, the corporate may even shut down its Los Angeles studio. Going ahead, it plans to concentrate on cell sport investments and prioritize first-party video games. “We additionally wish to improve our concentrate on constructing for the rising class of MR units and future AR glasses,” CEO John Hanke stated in an electronic mail to workers on Thursday. The corporate later posted the e-mail publicly on its web site.
Niantic says its bills grew quicker than income post-COVID
An financial slowdown could also be forcing these mass layoffs within the tech sector, however the firms led themselves to such conditions due to an unprecedented surge in the course of the pandemic period. Amazon, Meta, and lots of others went on a hiring spree just a few years again because the e-commerce and gaming industries grew exponentially. Niantic did the identical.
“We grew our headcount and associated bills in an effort to pursue progress extra aggressively,” stated Hanke. “Put up Covid, our income returned to pre-Covid ranges, and new tasks in video games and platforms haven’t delivered revenues commensurate with these investments.” Consequently, “now we have allowed our bills to develop quicker than income.” The most recent layoffs and undertaking cancelations will deliver issues again to stage.
Hanke added that Pokémon Go stays the corporate’s prime precedence. Niantic needs to make it “a eternally sport.” The Niantic CEO can also be assured in regards to the prospects for Pikmin Bloom, Peridot, and Monster Hunter Now however admits that there’s a number of work to do. The agency is dedicated to constructing new AR experiences for the gaming business.