News & Reviews:   niantic

Initially, it was a rumour, but this just happened a few hours ago. Niantic, the developer behind the highly successful Pokemon GO app, has sold the game and others to a Saudi Arabian group (Scopely) for US$$3.5 billion.

Can't get enough of Pokemon Go? Maybe another augmented reality (AR) game is just what you need. After Pokemon Go and Harry Potter Wizards Unite, Niantic is ready to dip its leg into another big franchise. This time, it's going to be a Transformers game.

If you recall, Niantic showed off how you could play AR games in 'real life' using Microsoft hardware. Some would have thought that you'd need something like a HoloLens to play it, but now it's clear that Niantic plans to build its own AR glasses.

If you're a big fan of AR games, this bit of news could be exciting for you. Microsoft recently hosted the Ignite 2021 event, where many companies showed new technologies. One of them was Niantic, which revealed a new tech that can bring AR games to 'life' with Microsoft hardware.

For those who haven't been playing Pokémon Go for a while, you might want to login soon to take a look. The game's developers are celebrating the release of "Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle" with a new event. You'll get a chance to catch a Shiny Celebi during the event.

You'd think that location-based AR games would suffer due to the pandemic, but Niantic made key changes to its games to keep them playable during this time. Pokémon GO is one of the games that has continued to thrive because of that, and now players can expect more updates soon.

The pandemic this year has hit a lot of businesses hard, Malindo Air just recently did a retrenchment, small businesses are struggling to survive and the economy is affected badly. However, it's a different story for Niantic, the makers of Pokemon GO as they have passed over the $1 billion mark this year alone.

Ever since the pandemic started early this year, Niantic, the makers of Pokemon Go have made several changes to the mobile app on how the players can still play while staying at home. From raiding remotely to walking distance boost from Gyms and PokeStops, and many more, the development team have also announced that some of the updates may revert back to the original way. 

If you want us to be honest, augmented reality games are taking a serious hit in 2020. Many things had to be tweaked to enforce social distancing, but Niantic has managed to keep Pokemon GO going strong. Moreover, the Pokemon GO Fest will still happen this year as an online event and details have now been revealed.

While the Sony PlayStation 5 is getting all the attention with its new design and upcoming games, we happened to pass by an important announcement by Niantic, the makers behind Pokemon GO. Starting from August 2020, the company will no longer support 32-bit Android devices.