Niantic, the company behind Pokémon GO, has laid off 230 employees. This comes a year after the company laid off ~90 employees. As part of the layoffs, Niantic is shutting down the NBA All-World game after four months in the App Store and canceling production on Marvel World of Heroes, a game based on the Marvel franchise.

The layoffs and cancellations come as the company's revenue has returned to pre-pandemic levels, and new projects have not delivered as much revenue as expected. One such project is Peridot, a mobile game similar to Tamagotchi, which has only made USD 1.4 million in gross in-app purchase revenue since its launch in May. Niantic, after nearly doubling the price of the popular in-app item in Pokémon GO (remote raid passes, at the end of March, citing a vision to encourage outdoor play), saw a decrease in its average monthly gross in-app purchase revenue from USD 70 million (July 2022–March 2023) to USD 53 million in the subsequent three months, according to Sensor Tower data.

Despite the layoffs and cancellations, Niantic notes that it has a robust business arm separate from its own games. The company's Lightship AR developer kit allows any developer familiar with Unity to create AR games. Developers also have access to Niantic’s visual positioning system (VPS), which lets users interact with local landmarks in their real-world surroundings. The company plans to increase its focus on developing mixed-reality devices and AR glasses.

Analyst QuickTake: Niantic has been seeking additional streams to monetize its AR games, including the recent launch of “Rewarded AR,” which uses a smartphone's camera to immerse players within branded content in their real-world surroundings. Additionally, the company’s focus on its 8th Wall platform is evident through the launch of additional AR developer tools in June 2023 .