Niantic Labs, Inc is an American software development company based in San Francisco.
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34 Facts About Niantic Labs
2.
Niantic Labs is best known for developing the location based games Ingress and Pokemon Go.
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3.
Niantic Labs was formed as Niantic Labs in 2010 as an internal startup within Google.
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4.
Niantic Labs became an independent entity in October 2015 when Google restructured under Alphabet Inc Niantic has additional offices in Bellevue and Los Angeles.
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5.
Niantic Labs took its name from the whaling vessel Niantic, which came to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush in the 1800s.
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6.
Company spun out of Google in October 2015 soon after Google's announcement of its restructuring as Alphabet Inc During the spinout, Niantic Labs announced that Google, Nintendo, and The Pokemon 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.
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7.
In November 2017, Niantic Labs raised $200 million in Series B funding from multiple investors, led by Spark Capital.
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8.
In January 2019, it was reported that Niantic Labs had raised an additional $245 million in a Series C fundraising round.
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9.
In November 2017, it was announced that Niantic Labs had acquired Evertoon, an app which allows users to make short, personalized films.
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10.
In February 2018, Niantic Labs announced that it had acquired augmented reality company Escher Reality, a team focused on building persistent, cross-platform, multi-user experiences.
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11.
Hanke stated that Niantic Labs planned to allow third-party developers to build AR games similar to Pokemon Go.
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12.
In June 2018, Niantic Labs announced the acquisition of computer vision and machine learning company Matrix Mill.
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13.
In July 2018, Niantic Labs announced the acquisition of LA-based gaming studio, Seismic Games.
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14.
In November 2018, Niantic Labs invested in DigiLens alongside Mitsubishi Chemical's Diamond Edge Ventures.
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15.
In June 2019, Niantic Labs announced the acquisition of London-based development studio, Sensible Object.
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16.
In 2021, Niantic Labs acquired Scaniverse, a 3D scanning app, and Lowkey, a social gaming platform in which users can record and share gameplay moments.
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17.
In 2022, Niantic Labs announced the acquisition of 8th Wall, a WebAR development platform, and NZXR, an augmented reality studio.
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18.
In June 2018, Niantic Labs shared a sneak peek behind the technology they had been developing for years: the Niantic Labs Real World Platform.
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19.
Niantic Labs mentioned that they intend to open up the platform in the future for use by third-party developers.
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20.
In December 2018, Niantic Labs announced their Beyond Reality Developer Contest offering third-party developers an opportunity to develop a new game experience on the Niantic Labs Real World Platform for a chance to compete for a prize pool of more than $1 million.
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21.
In November 2021, Niantic Labs launched the Lightship software development kit for augmented reality based on Unity.
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22.
Niantic Labs raised $300 million from Coatue Management for further development of Lightship and Niantic's "real-world metaverse", valuing the company at $9 billion.
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23.
In July 2019, Niantic Labs announced they would shut down the app later that year, with the app itself being removed from app stores immediately.
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24.
Niantic Labs's first augmented reality game Ingress was initially made available on Android by invitation only in November 2012.
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25.
Companies that partnered with Niantic Labs were marketed through the narrative of Ingress rather than direct marketing techniques.
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26.
In November 2018, Niantic Labs released a revamped version of the game branded as Ingress Prime.
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27.
Niantic Labs retained the older Ingress game as a separate download named Scanner [REDACTED].
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28.
Niantic Labs's second announced mobile game, Endgame: Proving Ground, was a part of the transmedia storytelling project that included an alternate reality game, Endgame: Ancient Truth and novels by James Frey starting with Endgame: The Calling.
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29.
In September 2015, it was announced that Niantic Labs had been developing Pokemon Go in partnership with Nintendo and The Pokemon Company for iOS and Android devices.
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30.
In November 2017, it was announced that Niantic Labs had been developing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite in partnership with Warner Bros.
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32.
The game was being co-developed with Seattle-based studio Very Very Spaceship, but Niantic Labs ultimately cancelled the game and three others in June 2022 amidst layoffs.
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33.
Niantic Labs 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 Pokemon Go players, and a $1.
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34.
Niantic Labs claimed that the hacked versions of the applications were infringing on their intellectual property rights.
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