Niantic Lays Off 68 Employees Following $3.5 Billion Games Business Sale
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- Niantic is about to lay off 68 employees following the $3.5 billion sale of its video game business to Scopely.
- According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification report, Niantic will execute layoffs on May 20, 2025.
- Niantic’s game teams, including longtime leaders like Ed Wu and Kei Kawai, now remain with Scopely.
Niantic is about to lay off 68 employees following the $3.5 billion sale of its video game business. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) report published in California, at least 68 people will be losing their jobs at Niantic on May 20, 2025.
Those cuts were already announced via an internal email on March 20, 2025, by Niantic’s CEO, John Hanke. He stated that such a move would help the company streamline its operations and function more like a “startup organization,” as the sale enables it to shift the focus toward geospatial AI, launching a new entity called Niantic Spatial Inc.
According to the Game Developer outlet, Niantic has confirmed Hanke’s note relates to the WARN report and said it doesn’t have “anything else to add to that statement at this time.”
At the beginning of March 2025, Scopely, a gaming and esports company backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, announced the acquisition of Niantic’s game division, including Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now for $3.5 billion.
It is worth noting that Niantic’s game teams, including longtime leaders like Ed Wu and Kei Kawai, now remain with Scopely.
