It has been a little over a month now since the news broke that Niantic‘s gaming division was being sold to Scopely, a Saudi-owned mobile publisher, for $3,500,000,000. There had been rumors of it a month before, but it wasn’t until March that it was made official. Unfortunately, there is some bad news to share with you in regards to what remains of Niantic, which is now called Niantic Spatial.
It has been confirmed that Niantic is laying off at least 68 of its employees. However, it isn’t effective immediately. All employees impacted will still have their jobs until May 20th. As for why this is being done, CEO John Hanke said in an internal email that the layoffs would enable Niantic to “operate as a startup organization, focused on the road ahead”. Because of this, he says that “some roles would not be required given our new focus”.
Hanke continued, saying that “these decisions are never easy; they in no way reflect the individuals’ performance, and we understand their impact on people’s lives. We deeply appreciate the talented individuals who helped us get here and for their many contributions, and will support them as they transition to new opportunities”.
Blah blah blah we fired people because we’re greedy
What a bunch of a-holes.
The end of Pokémon GO… Well I haven’t played with it for years, but when they sold the company to Arabian business men, it was the end of the whole company for me. And now…
Arabian businesses have no taste at all. They just think about the profit and make some of the most horrible decisions you can ever think of, not even a fatal fury but I feel bad for them after how they are treating that game.
Exactly. They only focused on the money and income. They might damage the gaming industry.
Except that Nintendo has its say and could stop pokemon Go whenever they want, I don’t worry too much about that
On the other hand, the hypocritical speech of the CEO of Niantic makes me want to slap him
Ah yes, a startup organisation. You know, just a little indie company making their way in the world with 3.5 billion dollars with which to scrape by. Best of luck to them, love an underdog trying their best.
It’s just a shame those 68 people had to have their lives horrendously uprooted, but it couldn’t be helped. Still, it’s nice that they’re showing their deep appreciation by at least opening the door before they kick them through it.
You guys are missing the mark and misunderstanding the content of this post. The article is referring to Niantic Spatial, not Scopely’s acquired Pokemon GO team. This should have zero effect on GO.