Niantic Spatial, the tech firm that continues to be of Niantic after it bought off its video games enterprise to Scopely final month, simply laid off 68 individuals following the roughly $3.5 billion transaction.
This information was spotted by Game Developer by way of a California WARN Act report, reveals that at the least 68 people are dropping their jobs impact May 20, 2025. CEO John Hanke confirmed the news by sharing an email distributed to workers in the present day.
In it, he mentioned that the layoffs got here because of Niantic Spatial needing to “function as a startup group, targeted on the highway forward”, for which “some roles wouldn’t be required given our new focus.” It’s value noting that Niantic was fashioned in 2010 underneath Google as Niantic Labs, and have become unbiased in 2015.
“These selections are by no means simple; they under no circumstances replicate the people’ efficiency, and we perceive their influence on individuals’s lives,” he continued. “We deeply recognize the gifted people who helped us get right here and for his or her many contributions, and can help them as they transition to new alternatives.”
These layoffs influence Niantic Spatial, which is the portion of Niantic that was spun off following the sale of Niantic’s video games enterprise – together with Pokemon Go, Monopoly Go!, and different video games – to Scopely final month for over $3.5 billion. Niantic Spatial’s focus is on utilizing geospatial synthetic intelligence to develop new expertise and merchandise, one thing Niantic was already been doing for some time each outdoors of and with the assistance of its video games.
Niantic Spatial was funded with $250 million of capital, $200 million from Niantic’s steadiness sheet and a $50 million Scopely funding. Upon its announcement, the corporate mentioned its intention was to “speed up and scale much more quickly”.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can discover her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a narrative tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
