Niantic is also cutting part of its workforce amid restructurings that followed the sale of Pokémon GO and its other games to mobile publisher Scopely.
Pokémon GO
Two weeks ago, Niantic effectively split its business into two companies: Niantic Games (sold to Scopely) and Niantic Spatial (a team focused on developing geospatial AI technologies). The layoffs happened at the latter.
In a message to employees, Niantic CEO John Hanke explained that Niantic Spatial will evolve as a startup. The management carefully analyzed the company’s staffing structure and concluded that some positions were no longer necessary, leading to a decision to lay off some employees.
Hanke did not specify the number of employees who would lose their jobs, but some figures were obtained thanks to California state legislation, which requires companies to notify authorities in advance of large layoffs at local branches. According to the filed document, Niantic intends to cut 68 employees from its San Francisco office by June 15. The list of those to be laid off includes the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Technical Officer, Vice President, Lead Counsel, and more than a dozen programmers. Whether there will be layoffs in other offices is unknown.
No layoffs have been reported in the team sold to Scopely. Earlier, Scopely had stated that, following the deal, all employees of Niantic's gaming division would join its staff.