Pokemon Go is one of the most-played games of 2019, however, now it is not played much. In an announcement, Niantic, the company that created the video game, has said that it is laying off a quarter of its staff since demand for video games has slowed after the pandemic COVID-19 spike in downloads. According to the media reports, the company will also cancel two game titles and shut down its Los Angeles studios.Official statements In a statement, Niantic Chief Executive John Hanke said, “I have made the decision to narrow our focus for mobile game investments, concentrating on first-party games that most strongly embody our core values of location and local social communities.” He also said that the company has decided to cut 230 jobs, adding, “Specifically, this means we will be closing our LA studio, reducing our game platform team, and making additional reductions across the company. As a result, we will be sunsetting NBA All-World and stopping production on Marvel: World of Heroes. This means we are laying off around 230 Niantics.”Moreover, the company will also retire the Marvel World of Heroes game along with its newly-released NBA All-World game. The company also said that the company “allowed our expenses to grow faster than revenue.” They added, “Post Covid, our revenue returned to pre-Covid levels, and new projects in games and platforms have not delivered revenues commensurate with those investments.” Why the decision was takenThe latest decision will help the companys expenses and revenue will fall back into line while “preserving our core assets and long-term upside.”About Pokemon GoThe viral game, Pokemon Go was introduced in 2016, and it is said that the video game quickly become a worldwide craze with thousands of downloads. Several gamers and people would scour public areas to find virtual characters, including Pikachu and Snorlax, etc. However, there were many reports of users who disregarded safety instructions and caused car accidents, robberies, injuries, and deaths. The augmented reality game reportedly smashed Apples record for the most downloads in a single week at the time, according to the tech giant.In June 2022, the company announced that it will terminate four projects and lay off about eight per cent of its staff.
