Pokémon GO developer, Niantic, launched NBA All-World, a free-to-play officially licensed geolocation AR basketball game powered by the Unity Engine, in partnership with the NBA and NBPA.

Players can compete against NBA athletes, recruit them to their team, outfit their squads, chat with friends in the game, and compete in tournaments alongside other features. The game is available on Google Play and the App Store, with Niantic supporting the game’s launch with a marketing campaign and a short-form documentary.

The company plans to generate revenue by selling “boosts,” an in-game feature that allows better player performance alongside collaborations with brands such as Nike and Adidas to recreate apparel and other accessories inside the game. 

Analyst QuickTake: The product launch follows a stream of product development activities, such as a partnership with Qualcomm, to leverage a platform for geotagged immersive content and supporting hardware in November 2022 , along with the acquisition of AR studio NXZR in April 2022 . Despite this, the company faced multiple headwinds with the shutdown of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite , its first high-profile title after Pokémon GO followed by the subsequent layoff of 8% of employees in June 2022 .