Pokemon Go still “top priority” as Niantic lays off 230 employees

Pokemon Go developers Niantic have confirmed that Pokemon Go is still “top priority” in the company as they announced that 230 employees are being laid off.

Over the last few years, Niantic has grown in popularity immensely thanks to Pokemon Go, but they’ve also created quite a few other games.

Peridot is their latest first-party release, and Niantic is set to release Monster Hunter Now later in 2023.

On June 29, 2023, however, Niantic CEO John Hanke announced that 230 employees are being laid off and they’re closing one of their offices.

Pokemon Go is still top priority amid layoffs

Amid the loss of 230 Niantic employees, they are closing their studio in Los Angeles, California, and sunsetting their NBA All-World game while stopping production on Marvel: World of Heroes.

Explaining the layoffs, John Hanke said: “In the years since Pokémon GO’s launch, the mobile market has become crowded, and changes to the app store and the mobile advertising landscape have made it increasingly hard to launch new mobile games at scale.

“We also face an AR market that is developing more slowly than anticipated, because of technology challenges and because larger players are slowing down their investments in light of the macro environment.”

Hanke also revealed how they’re going to adjust their strategy and investment, mentioning that their top priority is to “keep Pokemon Go healthy and growing as a forever game.” The CEO went on to mention that they made some changes to the PoGo team, but their investment in the product and team will continue to grow.

Niantic will also focus on making their recently launched and future games a success, including Peridot, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now.

This comes just days after Niantic pulled back an unintended increase on the Wild Spawn interaction radius, making many trainers lose faith.