BOMBSHELL: 68 Niantic Employees AXED After $3.5B Sale

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Summary

  • Niantic is laying off employees following its sale to Scopely.
  • At least 68 Niantic employees will be let go effective May 20, aimed at making the company more focused.
  • These layoffs follow similar ones that hit Pokemon GO support studio Very Very Spaceship.

Shortly after its high-profile sale to Scopely, Niantic is letting go of some employees. Pokemon GO’s publisher revealed in March that it would be selling its game business to Saudi Arabia-owned Scopely for roughly $3.5 billion. This transaction is part of Saudi Arabia’s expanding involvement in the gaming sector. The acquisition will likely impact the development teams of other Niantic games, but given Pokemon GO’s widespread popularity, fans are particularly concerned about its future.

Upon the announcement of the buyout, Ed Wu, head of Pokemon GO, reassured anxious gamers by saying that Scopely aims to focus on creating an optimal gaming experience, with the overall outcome being beneficial for Niantic in the long run. For instance, Michael Steranka, senior product director at Pokemon GO, confirmed that Scopley will not exploit user data or flood the game with annoying advertisements. Nevertheless, Niantic did mention that layoffs would occur as a consequence of the subsequent restructuring, which is typically the case when a larger video game company acquires a smaller one.

It’s now been disclosed that Niantic will be dismissing at least 68 of its employees, as stated in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification published in California (by Game Developer). The layoffs are set to take effect on May 20, as detailed in an internal email from CEO John Hanke on March 20. This announcement came shortly after the public reveal of Niantic’s sale to Scopely.

Niantic To Lay Off 68 Employees In May

In an earlier announcement about job reductions, Hanke explained that these cuts would enable Niantic Spatial Inc. to function more like a startup company, streamlining its operations. He emphasized that careful thought was given to the positions being eliminated and clarified that the decisions were not a reflection of the performance or skills of the affected Niantic employees.

Niantic has acknowledged that Hanke’s statements are related to the recent WARN report, but they currently have no additional comments on the matter.

Previously, the company responsible for creating Pokemon GO, Niantic, has faced layoffs before. Last May, their support studio based in Seattle, Very Very Spaceship, made significant redundancies. These affected producers, recruiters and HR personnel, artists who created in-game models, some of whom had been with the company for three to five years prior to the announcement. It remains to be seen how this recent wave of Niantic layoffs will influence games like Pokemon GO. However, Niantic has recently reassured fans that they will not be closing down under Scopely’s new management.

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2025-04-15 21:07