It has been a little over a month now since the news broke that Niantic‘s gaming division was being sold to Scopely, a Saudi-owned mobile publisher, for $3,500,000,000. There had been rumors of it a month before, but it wasn’t until March that it was made official. Unfortunately, there is some bad news to share with you in regards to what remains of Niantic, which is now called Niantic Spatial.
It has been confirmed that Niantic is laying off at least 68 of its employees. However, it isn’t effective immediately. All employees impacted will still have their jobs until May 20th. As for why this is being done, CEO John Hanke said in an internal email that the layoffs would enable Niantic to “operate as a startup organization, focused on the road ahead”. Because of this, he says that “some roles would not be required given our new focus”.
Hanke continued, saying that “these decisions are never easy; they in no way reflect the individuals’ performance, and we understand their impact on people’s lives. We deeply appreciate the talented individuals who helped us get here and for their many contributions, and will support them as they transition to new opportunities”.
