Pokemon GO Developer Lays Off Over 230 Employees, Shutting Down A Studio And Some Games

Despite managing one of the most successful mobile games of all time, Pokemon GO developer Niantic seems to have run into some financial troubles as of late.

According to an internal email shared to Kotaku, Niantic will be engaging in a number of cost-cutting measures due to “expenses growing faster than revenue”. This includes laying off over 230 employees, shutting down its Los Angeles Studio, as well as pulling the plug on NBA All-World  and the upcoming Marvel: World of Heroes. As for Pokemon GO, it will remain a top priority for the company to keep it “healthy and growing as a forever game.”

In the email, company founder John Hanke cited a number of reasons for the decline in revenue, including the effects of the pandemic, the growing AR game market, and a decline in long-term engagement for many of its projects, being unable meet internal goals in many areas.

“Today’s highly competitive mobile gaming market requires dazzling quality and innovation. It also requires strong monetization and a social core which can drive viral growth and long term engagement. Teams need platform tools that are force multipliers, enabling them to build at the highest quality with powerful engagement features quickly and efficiently. Our AR map and platform must deliver the features that developers want in a robust and reliable way. We have not met our goals in all of these areas.”

Last year, Niantic was also forced to engage in a number of cuts to jobs and projects, at the time attributed to “economic turmoil”. However, this new story could suggest that the company might not be doing well in general outside of Pokemon GO, which itself has seen signs of a decline in revenue as well as widespread criticism from players.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.