Niantic

Niantic, originally part of Google, developed the popular AR games Ingress and Pokémon Go, the latter earning over USD 1 billion in revenue in 2020. Launched in 2016, Pokémon Go requires players to move physically to interact with AR elements. Within two months of release, players logged over 4.6 billion kilometers, reaching 23 billion kilometers by March 2019.

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 developer-focused updates include the launch of Scaniverse 4 (November 2024), a 3D scanning app using Gaussian splatting for faster, more accurate rendering and Niantic Studio (June 2024), a visual editor for developers to add interactivity, animation, and more, with a few clicks.

On a video game front, the company’s latest title was Peridot, an AR pet game launched in May 2023. The game saw GenAI feature integration in November 2023, and a mixed reality version launch for the Meta Quest 3 in May 2024. Niantic also launched Wol in May 2023, an MR experience featuring an AI-powered talking owl on Meta Quest headsets and smartphones, set in the redwood forest. 

The company shut down its geolocation AR basketball game NBA All-World created in partnership with the NBA and NBPA 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.  

Niantic has also made several acquisitions to advance its "real-world metaverse" vision, including NZXR (AR studio, March 2022), Lowkey (sports gameplay editing, December 2021), Hoss (social gaming, October 2021), Mayhem (developer platform, January 2021), Scaniverse (3D scanning, August 2021), and 6D.ai (3D camera software, March 2020). Additionally, Niantic invested in AR-based social app Gowalla in January 2022.

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.