Pokemon Go Studio is laying off employees and canceling projects

The mobile gaming company behind it pokemon go, Niantic struggles to find his next big hit. And now a new report claims that the studio has canceled several projects and laid off staff in order to “simplify” operations.

The San Francisco-based publisher is cutting 85 to 90 jobs and eliminating four games in development, including transformers Accidental advertising called last year heavy metal, the interview Bloomberg Publish the report todayand the Bloomberg It was also reported that an email was sent to employees from CEO John Hanke, saying the company was “before a period of economic turmoil” and that after previous cost-cutting efforts, Niantic should “further streamline our operations to support the company” to improve companies’ resilience. All economic storms may await us.”

Other games that have been canceled include, among others villageIt’s a planned collaboration between Niantic and the theater drunk punchand the the sky is blue and the snowballBut it is unclear whether they are schematic addresses or internal symbolic names.

Niantic had a huge success in 2016 move it Pokemon Go, but still unable to replicate this success. In 2019 the studio released Harry Potter: Wizards UniteBut she did not find a large audience and It was finally closed earlier this year. Other games are based on picmin and the calico They also failed to set the world on fire.

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In a statement sent to KotakuA Niantic spokesperson confirmed the news of the layoffs and made it clear that he intends to continue supporting Pokemon Go Games and other projects.

“We recently made the decision to halt production on some projects and reduce our workforce by about 8 percent to focus on our main priorities,” Niantic said. “We are grateful for the contributions of those who left Niantic and we support them in this difficult transition.

The company also announced that Kotaku The move will allow the company to focus more on “new experiences” and that it “will continue to invest in the future of augmented reality.”

While it is true that Niantic will continue to invest in new games –After all, the company just announced a new project with the NBAIt is unlikely that the expelled find solace in this fact. I can’t imagine watching your company Keep making billions of dollars In a game, firing employees is a good way to boost morale.