Niantic Labs

It probably shouldn't come as a surprise by now that Niantic Labs may or may not push through with games other than Pokemon GO. While that mobile AR title continues to bring in users and profits, other excursions have failed to take root and see the same success. That includes not only its original title, Ingress, but also a game that didn't even fully launch. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has apparently lost the fight, as well, and will be going dark in about three months.

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Niantic Labs has been around for a long time and, at one point in time, was even a Google company. Its core business was to bring augmented reality games to the mobile market, but its first title wasn't a commercial success, despite Ingress gaining a faithful following. It finally struck gold with Pokemon GO and has been trying to recreate that success ever since. It has recently partnered with Nintendo again for a relatively more obscure franchise, and Pikmin Bloom is now launching worldwide as people start walking outdoors again.

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Although Pokemon GO continues to be a popular game and money-maker for Niantic Labs, the mobile AR game developer hasn't had much success with its other attempts are recreating that magic. The latest evidence of its failure is CATAN: World Explorers, the mobile AR recreation of a highly popular board game. While the heavyweight brand should have garnered interest and resources, it seems that it just wasn't meant to be, as the game is shutting down soon after spending a year in early access.

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Niantic's CEO has teased the Pokemon Go-maker's first augmented reality glasses, with a cryptic preview of the digital eyewear on Twitter. It's the first public sign of the company's smart glasses, though Niantic - which is also partnering with Nintendo again on a Pikmin game - has been talking about AR gaming for some time now.

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Although less successful with its own IP, Niantic Labs found a more profitable market in making AR games around already known franchises. Pokemon GO still remains its most successful attempt while Harry Potter: Wizards Unite still has a loyal following despite lower numbers. Niantic's true product, however, is its "Real World" AR platform and it is brushing that up again for another Nintendo franchise, this time revolving around the even more cutesy creatures of Pikmin.

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It's almost impressive how Niantic Labs was able to quickly adapt to a new world where going out and walking around has become discouraged or even disallowed in some countries. That mechanic is, of course, the lifeblood of Pokemon GO but the game continues to have a strong and active following thanks to changes that made it possible to play indoors. With that crisis far behind it, Pokemon GO is moving forward with its next big features, including one literally big feature taken straight from the mainline game.

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Pokemon GO developer Niantic may be creating a set of augmented reality smart glasses, but it has no intention of building them itself, the company has confirmed. Niantic had announced last December that it would be working on a set of AR glasses using Qualcomm's chipset technology, and with which games like Pokemon GO and Ingress could better integrate into the real world.

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It's actually not exactly news that Niantic Labs, creators of the famed Ingress, Pokemon GO, and Harry Potter Wizards Unite AR games, have been working on a new title and what that title would be. It is, however, fresh news that it will soon be opening it up for beta testing. While that may already be big news for fans of the board game franchise, what Niantic also mentioned in passing might actually have even bigger implications for the still struggling AR market.

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Shelter-in-place orders and quarantines have shaken up businesses around the world. That includes not only those that require workers to come into work physically but especially those whose business revolves around people actually going out and walking around. Niantic Labs' games have been hailed for getting people to be more active, perhaps almost too active, but now the company is scrabbling to ensure players are still able to enjoy this AR experiences even when stuck inside their homes.

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Pokémon Go maker Niantic plans to make an augmented reality headset using Qualcomm's new Snapdragon XR2 Platform, paving the way to new games that integrate digital graphics with the real world. The collaboration will see the Niantic Real World Platform brought to not only Niantic's hardware but opened to other developers who want to make vast, shared AR experiences.

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"Gotta Catch 'em All" has always been the slogan of the Pokemon franchise but, truth be told, the games have been as much about organization and management as they are about collection and competition. For a game that tells you to catch them all, it's almost ironic that you have a rather hard cap on how much Pokemon you can have in storage. That limitation is even more acute in Pokemon GO but is, thankfully, expanding year after year, with this latest announcement about expanding Pokemon and Item capacities if you have the Pokecoin to spend.

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Trainers all over the world rejoice! If you've been itching to have one of your country's famous locations turned into a Gym or PokeStop, your chance may have just arrived. Provided, of course, you meet the minimum requirements Niantic has laid out. The mobile AR company has finally launched its Wayfarer program, admittedly a few days later than anticipated, to players worldwide to give eligible Trainers the opportunity to change the shape of the Pokemon GO world, hopefully for the better.

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