Niantic

Niantic, initially a part of Google, is the video game and software development company behind the popular AR mobile games, Ingress and Pokemon Go, which earned over USD 1 billion in revenue in 2020. Pokémon Go requires players to move in the physical world to come across action items in the digital space delivered in AR. The game was immediately received well by fans following its launch in 2016, with users collectively logging a walk distance of over 4.6 billion kilometers while playing the game within just two months after its release; a total of 23 billion kilometers walked as of March 2019. 

In August 2024, Niantic released Scaniverse 4, an updated version of its 3D scanning app, allowing users to capture places and objects in 3D using a Gaussian splatting technique, which provides more accurate and detailed representations with faster rendering. Previously, Niantic launched Peridot, its AR pet game in March 2023. The company announced the integration of GenAI features powered by Meta’s Llama 2 large language model (LLM) into the game, in November 2023. This allowed the game's virtual pets to interact with the environment in a more realistic manner. Niantic subsequently added a mixed reality version of the game, accessible on Meta’s Quest 3 headset (May 2024). The company also launched an MR experience titled ‘Wol’ (May 2023) playable on Meta Quest headsets and smartphones, which featured an AI-enabled talking owl powered by Inworld AI, discussing the redwood forest. 

The launch of the company’s geolocation AR basketball game, NBA All-World in partnership with the NBA and NBPA in January 2023, was shut down in June 2023, with the company laying off 230 employees and canceling production on Marvel World of Heroes, a game based on the Marvel franchise.  

In light of recent video game performance, the company has increasingly focused on its AR content development platform, 8th Wall, which the company acquired in March 2022–rumored to be Niantic’s largest acquisition. Notable recent updates to the platform include the launch of Niantic Studio (June 2024), Lightship ARDK 3.0 (October 2023), the integration of GenAI features to the platform (August 2023) and the launch of Rewarded AR (June 2023), which uses a smartphone's camera to immerse players within branded content in their real-world surroundings. 

Other acquisitions included New Zealand-based augmented reality studio NZXR (March 2022);  Lowkey (December 2021), a sports gameplay recording and editing app; Hoss (October 2021), a social gaming platform to improve its in-game social experience, and Mayhem (January 2021), a developer experience platform. In line with its vision to create a “real-world-metaverse” the company also acquired Scaniverse (August 2021) and 6D.ai (March 2020), companies focused on developing camera software to detect and scan objects and environments in 3D. Niantic’s other strategic initiatives include an investment in Gowalla (January 2022), an AR-based social app.

Key customers and partnerships

Prominent brands such as Coachella, Historic Royal Palaces, Universal Pictures, SoftBank, Warner Music Group, and the PGA of America utilized ARDK to create AR experiences.

Recent partnerships include that with Triverr (to create AR advertising and brand experiences with precise measurement in July 2024)  Capcom (to launch the Monster Hunter geolocation AR mobile game in September 2023) and Amazon (to launch Amazon Anywhere, which allowed customers to purchase physical Peridot merchandise within the game’s app in May 2023). 

Previous partnerships include that with Sony (February 2022) to collaborate and develop application software for auditory AR and Nintendo (March 2021) to develop mobile apps that combined Nintendo’s IP with Niantic's AR technology.