The creator of Pokémon Go is preparing to close the division in Los Angeles and make large-scale cuts. Niantic has announced that it will lay off 230 people. This is about a quarter of the total number of employees of the company.
As Niantic CEO John Hanke explained, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company began to earn much more. Because of this, the company began to expand aggressively, increased the number of staff and engaged in new projects. “We have allowed expenses to grow faster than revenues,” Hanke said.
At the same time, Niantic decided to abandon two projects. It will close the NBA All-World released in January 2023 and cancel the development of Marvel: World of Heroes.
Exactly a year ago, Niantic published a similar ad. Then she closed four games in development and fired 8% of employees (85-90 people).