Company:Niantic
Formerly |
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Type | Private |
Industry |
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Genre |
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Founded | 2010 |
Founder | John Hanke |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people |
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Products | See § Products |
Number of employees | ~800[1] |
Parent | Google (2010–2015) |
Subsidiaries |
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Website | nianticlabs |
Niantic, Inc. (/naɪˈæntɪk/ ny-AN-tik)[2] is an American software development company based in San Francisco . Niantic is best known for developing the augmented reality mobile games Ingress and Pokémon Go. The company was formed as Niantic Labs in 2010 as an internal startup within Google. The company became an independent entity in October 2015 while Google restructed under Alphabet Inc..[3] Niantic has additional offices in Bellevue and Los Angeles .
History
Founding
The company was formed in 2010 by John Hanke as Niantic Labs, an internal startup within Google.[4][5] The company took its name from the whaling vessel Niantic, which came to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush in the 1800s.[4] At the time Ingress was launched, Niantic had 35 employees.[6]
As an independent, private company
The company spun out of Google in October 2015 soon after Google's announcement of its restructuring as Alphabet Inc.[5] During the spinout, Niantic announced that Google, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company would invest up to $30 million in Series-A funding, $20 million upfront and the remaining $10 million in financing conditioned upon the company achieving certain milestones, to support the growth of the company and its products.[7] In February 2016, Niantic announced that it had secured an additional $5 million[8] in Series A funding including investment[9] from venture capital firms Alsop Louie Partners and You & Mr. Jones Brandtech Ventures, as well as angel investors Lucas Nealan, Cyan Banister, and Scott Banister.[10] While adding more support for the growth of the company, this investment enabled Niantic to bring in strategic industry pioneers including the addition of Gilman Louie to its board.[11]
In November 2017, Niantic raised $200 million in Series B funding from multiple investors, led by Spark Capital.[12] Spark's Megan Quinn joined Niantic's board of directors during this investment round.
In January 2019, it was reported that Niantic had raised an additional $245 million in a Series C fundraising round. The round was led by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), but also included investments from strategic partners such as AXiomatic Gaming and Samsung Ventures.[13] The investment valued the company at $3.7 billion, excluding the investment itself.[14]
Acquisitions and investments
In November 2017, it was announced that Niantic had acquired Evertoon, an app which allows users to make short, personalized films.[15][16][17] According to the company's announcement, the acquisition is meant to help build social systems. At the time of the acquisition, Evertoon was only 18 months old and had only 5 employees.[18]
In February 2018, Niantic announced that it had acquired augmented reality company Escher Reality, a team focused on building persistent, cross-platform, multi-user experiences. Hanke stated that Niantic planned to allow third-party developers to build AR games similar to Pokémon Go.[19]
In June 2018, Niantic announced the acquisition of computer vision and machine learning company Matrix Mill. The Matrix Mill team has spent years focusing on perfecting augmented reality occlusion by building deep neural networks that can infer 3D information about the surrounding world. The acquisition significantly advances Niantic's efforts to deliver planet-scale AR and provide even more realistic AR experiences.[20][21]
In July 2018, Niantic announced the acquisition of LA-based gaming studio, Seismic Games.[22] The gaming studio consists of industry veterans from EA/Pandemic and Activision, and best known for co-developing Marvel Strike Force.[23]
In November 2018, Niantic invested in DigiLens alongside Mitsubishi Chemical's Diamond Edge Ventures. The investment will help DigiLens develop holographic waveguide displays for augmented reality applications.[24]
In June 2019, Niantic announced the acquisition of London-based development studio, Sensible Object. Niantic CEO Hanke states on behalf of the company that the acquisition "significantly advances [Niantic's] efforts in developing a wide range of gaming experiences that bring the physical and digital world closer together".[25] In March 2020, Niantic acquired 3D world-scanning software company 6D.ai.[26] In January 2021, Niantic acquired community gaming platform Mayhem.[27]
In 2021, Niantic acquired Scaniverse, a 3D scanning app, and Lowkey, a social gaming platform in which users can record and share gameplay moments.[28][29] In 2022, Niantic announced the acquisition of 8th Wall, a WebAR development platform, and NZXR, an augmented reality studio.[30][31]
Lightship
In June 2018, Niantic shared a sneak peek behind the technology they had been developing for years: the Niantic Real World Platform.[32] The core platform consists of a suite of tools including: AR Cloud, anti-cheat security, POI data, IAP, social, analytics, CRM, sponsorship, and more.[33] Niantic mentioned that they intend to open up the platform in the future for use by third-party developers.[34]
In December 2018, Niantic announced their Beyond Reality Developer Contest offering third-party developers an opportunity to develop a new game experience on the Niantic Real World Platform for a chance to compete for a prize pool of more than $1 million.[35]
In early 2021, Niantic rebranded the Niantic Real World Platform as Lightship.[36] In November 2021, Niantic launched the Lightship software development kit for augmented reality based on Unity.[37] The company raised $300 million from Coatue Management for further development of Lightship and Niantic's "real-world metaverse", valuing the company at $9 billion.[38]
Products
2010 | |
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2011 | |
2012 | Field Trip |
2013 | Ingress |
2014 | |
2015 | |
2016 | Pokémon Go |
2017 | |
2018 | Ingress Prime |
2019 | Harry Potter: Wizards Unite |
2020 | |
2021 | Pikmin Bloom |
2022 | |
2023 | |
TBA | Transformers: Heavy Metal |
Peridot | |
NBA All-World |
Field Trip
In 2012, Niantic's launched its first product, Field Trip, a location-based mobile app which acted as "your guide to the cool, hidden, and unique things in the world around you."[39][40][41]
In July 2019, Niantic announced they would shut down the app later that year, with the app itself being removed from app stores immediately.[42]
Ingress and Ingress Prime
Niantic's first augmented reality game Ingress was initially made available on Android by invitation only in November 2012. It was then released publicly in October 2013. An iOS version was released in July 2014.
Initially, Niantic had taken an alternative approach to monetization, veering away from more traditional mobile application development standards such as ad placements and in-app purchases. However, following the split with Google in 2015, in-app purchasing was implemented for Ingress. John Hanke has noted that Ingress is a "proof of concept", adding that a next step could involve packaging application programming interfaces (APIs) from the Ingress application in order to entice developers.[43] Companies that partnered with Niantic were marketed through the narrative of Ingress rather than direct marketing techniques. These companies included Jamba Juice, Zipcar, Hint Water, Vodafone, Motorola, AXA, SoftBank Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Lawson, Ito En, and Circle K.[44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]
In November 2018, Niantic released a revamped version of the game branded as Ingress Prime. Prime is completely rewritten within Unity and the company used critical learnings gained from Pokémon Go and Ingress for its development.[52] Niantic also retained the older Ingress game as a separate download named Scanner [REDACTED]. The intention of the older Ingress game was to help aid players with the transition to Prime as feature parity was reached between both games in 2019.[53]
In collaboration with Craftar Studio, Ingress: The Animation, a television series based on the popular augmented reality game was produced. It began airing in Japan on Fuji TV's +Ultra programming block in October 2018. On April 30, 2019, the series premiered globally on Netflix.
Endgame: Proving Ground
Niantic's second announced mobile game, Endgame: Proving Ground, was a part of the transmedia storytelling project that also included an alternate reality game, Endgame: Ancient Truth and novels by James Frey starting with Endgame: The Calling.[54][55][56][57] Nothing has been heard of it since, making the game a vaporware.
Pokémon Go
In September 2015, it was announced that Niantic had been developing Pokémon Go in partnership with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices.[58] Tatsuo Nomura, who joined Niantic in 2015 after he developed the Google Maps: Pokémon Challenge,[59] acted as Director and Product Manager for the game.[60]
The game was initially released in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States in July 2016 (and released to much of the rest of the world throughout the remainder of 2016), where it became an overnight global phenomenon,[61] significantly increasing the use and visibility of augmented reality technology.[62] In addition to topping app store charts in most regions, Apple Inc. announced that Pokémon Go had become the most downloaded app in a first week ever, which was topped by Super Mario Run later that year.[63][64] Reports indicated that users were spending more time on Pokémon Go than on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Tinder, and Instagram.[65][66] In one month, Pokémon Go was downloaded more than 100 million times, with daily revenues exceeding $10 million.[67] Exactly two months after its launch, at Apple's September keynote, John Hanke announced that Pokémon Go exceeded 500 million downloads worldwide and that players around the world had walked over 4.6 billion kilometers.[68] By December, it was announced that the kilometer distance achieved in September had nearly doubled to over 8.7 billion kilometers, meaning that players had collectively walked further than the distance to Pluto.[69] By the end of February 2017, Pokémon Go had surpassed over 650 million downloads.[70] During Pokémon Go's Adventure Week in-game promo in May 2017, Niantic announced that players had collectively walked over 15.8 billion kilometers, roughly the distance from Earth past the edge of the solar system.[71] On June 8, 2017, it was revealed that Pokémon Go had been downloaded over 750 million times globally.[72] In 2019, it was revealed that Pokémon Go had been downloaded over 1 billion times.
Like Ingress, Pokémon Go has a similar approach to monetization. The game has two main revenue streams, in-app purchases and regional partnerships. To date, Pokémon Go has established several partnerships around the globe among which include Verizon[73] and Starbucks[74] in the United States, Reliance Jio[75] in India, SoftBank and 7-Eleven in Japan.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
In November 2017, it was announced that Niantic had been developing Harry Potter in partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and WB Games San Francisco, under the Portkey Games banner.[76][77] The mobile AR game, inspired by J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World and Harry Potter, is said to allow players to "explore real-world neighborhoods and cities to discover mysterious artifacts, learn to cast spells, and encounter legendary beasts and iconic characters along the way".[78] The game was released in New Zealand as an open beta on April 16, 2019.[79] Beta testing in Australia began on May 1, 2019.[80] The game was released worldwide on June 22, 2019. The game shut down on January 31, 2022.[81]
Catan: World Explorers
After a few months of silence regarding the possible deal, Niantic confirmed to The Verge that they had been involved with the game's creation.[82] In November 2019, CATAN GmbH announced at the 2019 Spiel that it was working on a “upcoming massively multiplayer location based game” titled Catan.[83] The game was to be based on the Catan board games; players moved through the real world, using their smartphones to build a Catan universe.[84]
The game was soft-launched as an open beta for New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, Switzerland, and Singapore.[85] The game shut down in November 2021.[86]
Transformers: Heavy Metal
In June 2021, it was announced that Niantic had been developing Transformers: Heavy Metal in partnership with Hasbro and Tomy. The game is co-developed with Seattle-based studio Very Very Spaceship and set to be launched later in 2021.[87]
Pikmin Bloom
On October 26, 2021, Nintendo and Niantic announced launching a brand new smartphone app for the franchise Pikmin. The project is an AR-based adventure in the real world that has the meaning of making walking fun with the little creatures named Pikmin. This app is the first one to be developed by Niantic's Tokyo division established in 2018.[88] The app was released worldwide on November 2, 2021, following a series of soft launches the previous week.[89]
Peridot
On April 14, 2022, Niantic announced launching a new smartphone AR game Peridot, set to be launched later in 2022.[90]
NBA All-World
On June 28, 2022, Niantic announced that it had partnership with the National Basketball Association for an AR game titled NBA All-World.[91]
Controversies
Lawsuits
Niantic has been sued in at least two class-action lawsuits: one starting in 2016 due to complaints from homeowners regarding trespassing and nuisance caused by Pokémon Go players,[92] and a $1.58 million settlement following gameplay issues during a real-life event in Chicago.[93]
Spoofing and hacking
On June 15, 2019, Niantic sued Global++, an unauthorized third-party software created by an "association of hackers" which allowed players to spoof their GPS location for the purpose of cheating in Niantic's augmented reality games, including Ingress and Pokémon Go.[94] Niantic claimed that the hacked versions of the applications were infringing on their intellectual property rights. The developer of Global++ earned money by selling subscriptions and asking for donations via the hacked apps. This resulted in Niantic forcing the developers to terminate their illegitimate distributions of the hacked apps and reverse engineering the games' codes. Eventually Global++ had to shut down their services, PokeGo++ and Ingress++, and their social media services.[95] Niantic has also claimed that Global++ was also in the process of creating Potter++—shortly before the release of the actual content—which Niantic stated would harm the success of the game.[95] The lawsuit was settled for $5 million following a decision on January 12, 2021, and Niantic was granted a permanent injunction.[96]
In-game COVID-19 pandemic bonus rollbacks
In August 2021, Niantic faced criticism from the playerbase due to reverting safety measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which gym and Pokéstop interaction distances were increased from 40 to 80 meters (130 to 260 ft). New Zealand and the United States were the first to have their pandemic bonuses reverted on August 1. Despite increasing rates of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in the U.S., Niantic kept the bonuses disabled. Players began boycotting Pokémon Go in the first week of August 2021.[97][98][99][100] Niantic responded to the community on August 26 by permanently changing the interaction distance to 80 meters.[101][102]
References
- ↑ Patel, Nilay (14 December 2021). "The metaverse is already here — and it’s full of Pokemon, says Niantic CEO John Hanke" (in en). The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/22832490/niantic-ceo-john-hanke-metaverse-pokemon-go-ar-vr-podcast-decoder-interview.
- ↑ "Niantic Engineering: Building Planet-Scale Augmented Reality". Niantic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVnwYkcscmI.
- ↑ "Niantic Labs, Maker Of Ingress, Spun Out Of Google As Its Own Company" (in en-US). https://social.techcrunch.com/2015/08/12/niantic-labs-maker-of-ingress-spun-out-as-its-own-company/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Markowitz, Eric (December 20, 2012). "Exclusive: Inside the Mind of Google's Greatest Idea Man, John Hanke". Inc.com. http://www.inc.com/eric-markowitz/inside-the-mind-of-googles-greatest-idea-man.html. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "About Niantic, Inc.". https://nianticlabs.com/about/.
- ↑ "Niantic's first AR game Ingress is getting a massive overhaul in 2018". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/2/16725884/ingress-prime-update-niantic-pokemon-go.
- ↑ "Niantic Inc. Raises $20 Million in Financing from The Pokémon Company, Google and Nintendo". October 15, 2015. https://nianticlabs.com/blog/niantic-tpc-nintendo/.
- ↑ Nutt, Christian (February 25, 2016). "Pokémon Go dev Niantic Labs scores another $5 million in funding". http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/266686/Pokmon_Go_dev_Niantic_Labs_scores_another_5_million_in_funding.php.
- ↑ "Welcoming Gilman Louie, David Jones, Fuji TV, Cyan & Scott Banister, and Lucas Nealan to the Niantic Family". https://www.nianticlabs.com/blog/niantic-inv/.
- ↑ Takahashi, Dean (February 25, 2016). "Niantic raises $5 million to forge ahead with Pokémon Go". https://venturebeat.com/2016/02/25/niantic-raises-5m-as-it-forges-ahead-with-pokemon-go-massively-multiplayer-mobile-game/.
- ↑ Weber, Rachel (February 25, 2016). "Niantic raises another $5m in Series A". http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-02-25-niantic-raises-another-usd5m-in-series-a.
- ↑ Etherington, Darrell (November 24, 2017). "Pokémon Go creator raises $200 million ahead of Harry Potter game launch". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/24/pokemon-go-creator-raises-200-million-ahead-of-harry-potter-game-launch/.
- ↑ Gomez, Brandon (January 16, 2019). "Niantic raises $245 million". CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/15/niantic-raises-245-million.html.
- ↑ "'Pokémon Go' maker valued at almost $4bn after cash injection" (in id). Financial Times. January 16, 2019. https://www.ft.com/content/b13f0dfc-1997-11e9-9e64-d150b3105d21.
- ↑ "The Niantic family is growing - Niantic". https://nianticlabs.com/blog/evertoon/.
- ↑ "Niantic acqui-hires Evertoon to add a social network to Pokémon Go and other apps" (in en-US). http://social.techcrunch.com/2017/11/03/niantic-acqui-hires-evertoon-to-add-a-social-network-to-pokemon-go-and-other-apps/.
- ↑ Roof, Katie (January 16, 2019). "'Pokémon Go' Maker Niantic Eyes Acquisitions After Fundraising" (in en-US). The Wall Street Journal. https://www.wsj.com/articles/pokemon-go-maker-niantic-eyes-acquisitions-after-fundraising-11547638201.
- ↑ Perez, Sarah. "Niantic acqui-hires Evertoon to add a social network to Pokémon Go and other apps". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/03/niantic-acqui-hires-evertoon-to-add-a-social-network-to-pokemon-go-and-other-apps/.
- ↑ Roettgers, Janko (February 1, 2018). "Pokemon Go Maker Niantic Acquires Startup That Develops Multiplayer Augmented Reality Tech". Variety. https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/pokemon-go-niantic-escher-reality-acquisition-1202683874/.
- ↑ "Welcoming Matrix Mill to Niantic: Redefining How Machines See and Understand the World - Niantic". https://nianticlabs.com/blog/matrixmill/.
- ↑ "Niantic's latest acquisition lets AR Pokémon hide behind the real world" (in en-US). http://social.techcrunch.com/2018/06/28/niantics-latest-acquisition-lets-ar-pokemon-hide-behind-the-real-world/.
- ↑ "Niantic acquires Seismic Games" (in en-US). http://social.techcrunch.com/2018/07/17/niantic-acquires-seismic-games/.
- ↑ "Welcoming Seismic Games to Niantic: Continuing to Shake Up How Games Are Made and Played - Niantic". https://www.nianticlabs.com/blog/seismicgames/.
- ↑ "AR display-maker DigiLens lands $50 million from Samsung, Niantic" (in en-US). http://social.techcrunch.com/2019/05/14/ar-display-maker-digilens-lands-50-million-from-samsung-niantic/.
- ↑ "Welcoming Sensible Object to Niantic: Expanding Breadth and Depth of Gaming Experiences" (in en). https://nianticlabs.com/en/blog/sensibleobject/.
- ↑ Stein, Scott. "Pokemon Go maker Niantic acquires 3D world-scanning software company 6D.ai" (in en). CNET. https://www.cnet.com/news/pokemon-go-maker-niantic-acquires-3d-world-scanning-software-company-6d-ai/.
- ↑ Matney, Lucas (January 5, 2021). "Niantic buys competitive gaming platform Mayhem" (in en-US). https://social.techcrunch.com/2021/01/05/niantic-buys-competitive-gaming-platform-mayhem/.
- ↑ Kumparak, Greg. "Niantic acquires 3D scanning app Scaniverse" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/10/niantic-acquires-3d-scanning-app-scaniverse/.
- ↑ Moon, Mariella (December 1, 2021). "Niantic buys gameplay recording app Lowkey to improve its in-game social experience". https://social.techcrunch.com/2021/12/01/niantic-buys-gameplay-recording-app-lowkey-to-improve-its-in-game-social-experience/.
- ↑ Peters, Jay (March 10, 2022). "Niantic's 'largest acquisition to date' shows the company is still pushing on AR". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/10/22971072/niantic-8th-wall-acquisition-largest-ar-augmented-reality-pokemon-go.
- ↑ "Niantic acquires former Magic Leap developers NZXR" (in en). https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2022-04-06-niantic-acquires-former-magic-leap-developers-nzxr.
- ↑ Hanke, John (June 28, 2018). "A Peek Inside the Niantic Real World Platform". https://nianticlabs.com/blog/nianticrealworldplatform/.
- ↑ Phil Keslin (June 26, 2018). Phil Keslin (Niantic Labs): ar is more than just pixels. Santa Clara, California. Retrieved June 29, 2018 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Niantic is opening its AR platform so others can make games like Pokémon Go". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/28/17511606/niantic-labs-pokemon-go-real-world-platform-ar.
- ↑ Batchelor, James (December 21, 2018). "Niantic launches $1m AR game contest". gamesindustry.biz. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-12-21-niantic-launches-usd1m-ar-game-contest.
- ↑ Statt, Nick (November 8, 2021). "Niantic is preparing for its own metaverse moment". https://www.protocol.com/niantic-developer-ar-platform-metaverse.
- ↑ Silberling, Amanda (November 8, 2021). "Niantic reveals its vision for a 'real-world metaverse,' releases Lightship AR Developer Kit" (in en-US). https://social.techcrunch.com/2021/11/08/niantic-reveals-its-vision-for-a-real-world-metaverse-releases-lightship-ar-developer-kit/.
- ↑ Silberling, Amanda (November 23, 2021). "Niantic raises $300M at a $9B valuation to build the 'real-world metaverse'" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2021/11/22/niantic-raises-300m-at-a-9b-valuation-to-build-the-real-world-metaverse/.
- ↑ "Field Trip". NianticLabs at Google. http://www.fieldtripper.com/index.html.
- ↑ "Field Trip". iTunes Store. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/field-trip/id567841460?mt=8.
- ↑ "Field Trip". https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nianticproject.scout&hl=en_US.
- ↑ "Thanks for the adventure, Field Trip users!". https://nianticlabs.com/en/blog/fieldtrip/.
- ↑ Newton, Casey (December 13, 2013). "The everywhere arcade: How Google is turning location into a game platform". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2013/12/13/5207176/the-everywhere-arcade-how-google-is-turning-location-into-a-game-platform.
- ↑ "In Google's Ingress, Virtual Reality Becomes Reality". Zipcar (Press release). October 3, 2014. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
- ↑ Holly, Russell (February 25, 2013). "Google makes Ingress codes available through HINT water partnership". GEEK. http://www.geek.com/mobile/google-makes-ingress-codes-available-through-hint-water-partnership-1540960/.
- ↑ Hanke, John (August 19, 2013). "Vodofone Germany Announcement". John Hanke Google+ Page. https://plus.google.com/+JohnHanke/posts/CbNV7nALAHJ.
- ↑ Ultra Strike Weapon Revealed - Ingress Report - EP19. Niantic. August 1, 2013 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "AXA and Google's Niantic Labs Partner to Integrate 20,000 Global Retail Agencies into Ingress' Interactive'Real World' Mobile Gameplay Experience". AXA (Press release). December 16, 2014. Archived from the original on August 30, 2015.
- ↑ "ソフトバンクショップがIngressに登場!" [SoftBank Shop and Ymobile Shop are now on the Ingress portal!]. Softbank Group (Press release) (in Japanese). July 27, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2021.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ "BTMU announces a partnership with "Ingress", using its vast network of branches and ATMs as portals in Japan!". The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Press release). June 20, 2015. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
- ↑ "スマートフォン用モバイルゲームアプリ「Ingress」(※)とコラボレーション" ["Ingress Item & Quo Card Present" Campaign Starts from Monday, August 3rd]. Ito En (Press release) (in Japanese). July 31, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2021.CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
- ↑ "Welcome to Ingress Prime". November 5, 2018. https://www.nianticlabs.com/blog/ingress-prime/.
- ↑ "Scanner [REDACTED"]. https://support.ingress.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002076527-Scanner-REDACTED-.
- ↑ Frank, Blair Hanley (March 16, 2015). "Google's Niantic Labs merges another virtual world with reality in upcoming game". Geek Wire. http://www.geekwire.com/2015/googles-niantic-labs-merges-another-virtual-world-with-reality-in-upcoming-game/.
- ↑ Rosenblatt, Seth Google's Niantic follows Ingress with Endgame CNET. Retrieved September 9, 2014
- ↑ Takahashi, Dean (December 17, 2014). "Google's Niantic Labs embarks on a giant interactive transmedia project with controversial author James Frey". Venture Beat. https://venturebeat.com/2014/12/17/googles-niantic-labs-embarks-on-a-giant-interactive-transmedia-project-with-novelist-james-frey/.
- ↑ Robertson, Adi (July 28, 2014). "Google is helping James Frey build a multimedia sci-fi juggernaut". The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/2014/7/28/5944583/google-is-helping-james-frey-build-a-sci-fi-juggernaut-with-endgame.
- ↑ Pokémon GO Press Conference. September 10, 2015 – via YouTube.
- ↑ Ogawa, Joshua (October 22, 2016). "'Pokemon Go' could evolve further". Nikkei Asian Review. https://asia.nikkei.com/Life-Arts/Milestone/Pokemon-Go-could-evolve-further?n_cid=NARAN1507.
- ↑ "Google+ post by Niantic Labs". Niantic Labs. https://plus.google.com/+Nianticlabs/posts/hzHFQ6Axbu7.
- ↑ "Why Pokémon GO has been a viral success". http://www.businessinsider.com/why-pokemon-go-has-been-a-viral-success-2016-7.
- ↑ "What Pokémon Go's Success Means for the Future of Augmented Reality". July 23, 2016. http://fortune.com/2016/07/23/pokemon-go-augmented-reality/.
- ↑ Dillet, Romain. "Apple says Pokémon Go is the most downloaded app in a first week ever". https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/22/apple-says-pokemon-go-is-the-most-downloaded-app-in-its-first-week-ever/.
- ↑ Hussain, Tamoor (December 23, 2016). "Super Mario Run Reaches 50 Million Downloads". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/articles/super-mario-run-reaches-50-million-downloads/1100-6446497/.
- ↑ Perez, Sarah. "Pokémon Go tops Twitter's daily users, sees more engagement than Facebook". https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/13/pokemon-go-tops-twitters-daily-users-sees-more-engagement-than-facebook/.
- ↑ "5 Charts That Show Pokémon GO's Growth in the US". July 10, 2016. https://www.similarweb.com/blog/pokemon-go.
- ↑ Perez, Sarah. "Pokémon Go passed 100 million installs over the weekend". https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/01/pokemon-go-passed-100-million-installs-over-the-weekend/.
- ↑ Grant, Christopher (September 7, 2016). "Pokémon Go has been downloaded 500 million times". http://www.polygon.com/pokemon-go/2016/9/7/12836898/pokemon-go-downloads-500-million.
- ↑ "200,000 trips around the Earth!". https://www.nianticlabs.com/blog/milestones/.
- ↑ Sarkar, Samit (February 27, 2017). "Pokémon Go hits 650 million downloads". http://www.polygon.com/2017/2/27/14753570/pokemon-go-downloads-650-million.
- ↑ "Adventures Await! - Pokémon GO". http://pokemongolive.com/en/post/adventureweek2017.
- ↑ "Celebrating the First Anniversary of Pokémon GO!". http://pokemongolive.com/en/post/anniversary2017.
- ↑ "Join us in welcoming Sprint as the first Pokémon GO United States partner". https://www.nianticlabs.com/blog/sprint/.
- ↑ "Hello, Starbucks!". https://www.nianticlabs.com/blog/starbucks/.
- ↑ "Reliance Jio is now an official partner of Pokémon GO in India". https://www.nianticlabs.com/blog/jio/.
- ↑ "The Magic of Harry Potter is coming to a Neighborhood Near You". https://nianticlabs.com/blog/wizardsunite/.
- ↑ "Niantic is adding gifting to 'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite'" (in en). https://www.engadget.com/2019/11/19/niantic-adds-gifting-harry-potter-wizards-unite/.
- ↑ "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite". https://harrypotterwizardsunite.com/.
- ↑ "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Beta Testing Begins in New Zealand" (in en). https://nianticlabs.com/blog/hpwu-nzbeta/.
- ↑ "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite beta now live in Australia and New Zealand" (in en). https://nianticlabs.com/blog/hpwu-aubeta/.
- ↑ "Announcing the close of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite". November 2, 2021. https://www.harrypotterwizardsunite.com/.
- ↑ Stephen, Bijan (November 21, 2019). "Catan is the latest game to make the jump to AR". https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/21/20976421/settlers-of-catan-ar-niantic-world-explorers-pokemon-go-augmented-reality.
- ↑ Kumparak, Greg (November 19, 2019). "Is this Niantic's next game?". http://social.techcrunch.com/2019/11/19/is-this-niantics-next-game/.
- ↑ Burns, Chris (November 19, 2019). "Pokemon GO creators' next big game: CATAN World Explorers". https://www.slashgear.com/pokemon-go-creators-next-big-game-catan-world-explorers-19600186/.
- ↑ Sholtz, Matthew (September 20, 2021). "Niantic calls it quits on its Settlers of Catan AR game". https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/09/20/niantic-is-calling-it-quits-for-one-of-its-augmented-reality-games/.
- ↑ "CATAN – World Explorers is shutting down". https://community.catanworldexplorers.com/discussion/1811/catan-world-explorers-is-shutting-down.
- ↑ Bonthuys, Darryn (June 14, 2021). "Pokemon Go Developer Niantic Is Working On A New Transformers AR Game". https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-go-developer-niantic-is-working-on-a-new-transformers-ar-game/1100-6492851/.
- ↑ Ramée, Jordan (March 22, 2021). "Pokemon Go Dev Making Pikmin Mobile Game". GameSpot. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/pokemon-go-dev-making-pikmin-mobile-game/1100-6489165/. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
- ↑ Reynolds, Matthew (2021-10-27). "Pikmin Bloom release date: When is Pikmin Bloom releasing in the UK, US and worldwide?" (in en). https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/pikmin-bloom-release-date-us-uk-download-ios-android-8037.
- ↑ Sholtz, Matthew (April 13, 2021). "Niantic's upcoming virtual pet AR game sounds like Pokémon GO crossed with Pikmin Bloom". Android Police. https://www.androidpolice.com/niantic-peridot-ar-game-android-announcement//. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
- ↑ Hilliard, Kylie (June 28, 2022). "NBA All World Is Niantic's Next Pokemon Go-Style Augmented Reality Game". https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nba-all-world-is-niantics-next-pokemon-go-style-augmented-reality-game/1100-6504935/.
- ↑ Good, Owen S. (February 17, 2019). "Pokémon Go settlement would resolve class-action trespassing claims against Niantic" (in en). Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2019/2/17/18228436/pokemon-go-lawsuit-niantic-settlement-awards-money-legal-fees.
- ↑ Hall, Charlie (April 3, 2018). "The Pokémon Go Fest lawsuit will cost Niantic $1.58M more" (in en). Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2018/4/3/17194122/pokemon-go-fest-chicago-class-action-settlement.
- ↑ Weinberger, Matt (June 15, 2019). "The creator of 'Pokemon Go is suing an 'association of hackers' that it says helps players cheat at its games" (in en). https://www.businessinsider.com/niantic-global-hacker-group-lawsuit-harry-potter2019-6.
- ↑ 95.0 95.1 Mamiit, Aaron (June 15, 2019). "Niantic Labs sues hackers who help players cheat in Pokémon Go". https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/niantic-labs-sues-creators-hacked-pokemon-go/.
- ↑ Carpenter, Nicole (January 13, 2021). "Pokémon Go creator wins $5M settlement from hack creators" (in en). Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2021/1/13/22229541/pokemon-go-creator-hack-lawsuit-settlement.
- ↑ Hern, Alex (August 3, 2021). "Pokémon no go? Players revolt as Niantic sends them back outside". https://www.theguardian.com/games/2021/aug/03/pokemon-no-go-players-revolt-as-niantic-sends-them-back-outside.
- ↑ Good, Owen (August 6, 2021). "Pokémon Go's biggest players call on Niantic to restore pandemic bonuses". https://www.polygon.com/22611737/pokemon-go-hearusniantic-pokestop-spin-distance-pandemic-rollback-niantic-boycott.
- ↑ Gray, Kate (August 5, 2021). "Pokémon GO Players Are Boycotting The Game After Niantic Removes COVID Changes". https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/08/pokemon_go_players_are_boycotting_the_game_after_niantic_removes_covid_changes.
- ↑ Fahey, Mike (August 2, 2021). "Fans Dismayed Niantic Removed Pokémon Go Safety Measures Despite Delta". https://kotaku.com/fans-dismayed-niantic-removed-pokemon-go-safety-measure-1847408137.
- ↑ Tassi, Paul (August 26, 2021). "'Pokémon Go' Relents, Increases PokéStop Distance Back to Pandemic Levels". https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/08/26/pokmon-go-relents-increases-pokestop-distance-back-to-pandemic-levels/?sh=47e593b41204.
- ↑ Wang, Steve (2021-09-01). "What we heard -- an update from our task force". Niantic. https://pokemongolive.com/post/sep-taskforce-update/.
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