Niantic, Inc.
| File:Niantic Labs logo.png | |
| Formerly | Niantic Labs @ Google or simply Niantic Labs |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mobile applications, mobile games, alternate reality games |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | John Hanke |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
Key people | John Hanke (CEO) |
| Products | Ingress, Field Trip, Endgame, Pokémon GO |
| Website | www |
Niantic, Inc. is a software development company best known for the augmented reality mobile games Ingress[1][2] and upcoming Pokémon GO. It was formed by Keyhole, Inc. founder John Hanke in 2010 as Niantic Labs, an internal startup at Google.[2] It became an independent entity in August 2015, soon after Google's announcement of its restructuring as Alphabet Inc.[3][4][5][6]
History
The company takes its name from the whaling vessel Niantic, which came to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush.[2][7] The fictional in-game investigative project that provides the narrative premise for Ingress is similarly named The Niantic Project.
Niantic's first product, published in 2012, was Field Trip, a location-based Android app. The augmented reality mobile game Ingress followed in November 2012 as an invite-only Android app. It was opened to the public in October 2013 and an iOS version was released in July 2014. Niantic's second game, Endgame, "is"(never released) a transmedia storytelling project consisting of an alternate reality game, Endgame: Ancient Truth, novels by James Frey starting with Endgame: The Calling, and a mobile app, Endgame: Proving Ground.[1][8][9][10]
Initially, Niantic had taken an alternative approach to monetization, veering away from more traditional mobile application development standards such as ad placements and in-app purchases. However, following the split with Google in 2015, in-app purchasing was implemented for Ingress. Founder and CEO John Hanke has noted that Ingress is a sort of proof of concept, adding that a next step could involve packaging application programming interfaces (APIs) from the Ingress application in order to entice developers.[11] Existing partners, marketed through the narrative of Ingress rather than direct marketing techniques, include Hint Water, Vodafone, Motorola, AXA, SoftBank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Ito En.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
In September 2015, it was announced that Niantic is co-developing Pokémon GO with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android.[19] The following month, Niantic announced Google, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company would invest $20 million in it to support the growth of the company and its products.[20] At around this time, the company had 41 employees.[21]
References
- ^ a b Frank, Blair Hanley. "Google's Niantic Labs merges another virtual world with reality in upcoming game". Geekwire.com. Geek Wire. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
- ^ a b c Markowitz, Eric (20 December 2012). "Exclusive: Inside the Mind of Google's Greatest Idea Man, John Hanke". Inc.com. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ^ Kessler, Sarah. "Can A Startup Live Inside Google? Niantic Labs, Creators Of Field Trip And "Ingress" Try". Fast Company. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ^ Olanoff, Drew (12 August 2015). "Niantic Labs, Maker Of Ingress, Spun Out Of Google As Its Own Company". Tech Crunch.
- ^ Groden, Claire (13 August 2015). "Google's internal start-up Niantic Labs spins off". Fortune.
- ^ Ingress. "Important Account Information: Niantic Labs is becoming an independent company..." Ingress Google+ page. Google. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- ^ Upbin, Bruce. "The Niantic Project: What Is Google Up To?". Forbes. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
- ^ Rosenblatt, Seth Google's Niantic follows Ingress with Endgame Cnet retrieved 9th Sept 2014
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (17 December 2014). "Google's Niantic Labs embarks on a giant interactive transmedia project with controversial author James Frey". Venture Beat.
- ^ Robertson, Adi (28 July 2014). "Google is helping James Frey build a multimedia sci-fi juggernaut". The Verge.
- ^ Newton, Casey (13 December 2013). "The everywhere arcade: How Google is turning location into a game platform". The Verge.
- ^ Holly, Russell (25 February 2013). "Google makes Ingress codes available through HINT water partnership". GEEK.
- ^ Hanke, John (19 August 2013). "Vodofone Germany Announcement". John Hanke Google+ Page.
- ^ Niantic Labs, Inc. (1 August 2013). "Ultra Strike Weapon Revealed - INGRESS REPORT - EP19". Ingress Youtube Page.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ AXA Financial, Inc. (16 December 2014). "AXA and Google's Niantic Labs Partner to Integrate 20,000 Global Retail Agencies into Ingress' Interactive'Real World' Mobile Gameplay Experience". AXA Press Release.
{{cite web}}:|first=has generic name (help) - ^ Softbank Group, Corp. (27 July 2015). "ソフトバンクショップがIngressに登場！". Softbank Press Release.
- ^ The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (20 June 2015). "BTMU announces a partnership with "Ingress", using its vast network of branches and ATMs as portals in Japan!". MUFG Press Release.
- ^ Ito En, Ltd. (31 July 2015). "スマートフォン用モバイルゲームアプリ「Ingress」（※）とコラボレーション". ITO EN Press Release.
- ^ Pokémon GO Press Conference. YouTube. 10 September 2015.
- ^ McWhertor, Michael (October 15, 2015). "Nintendo, Google and Pokémon Company invest $20M in Pokémon Go developer". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
- ^ "How Pokémon Go will benefit from Niantic's lessons from Ingress on location-based game design - GamesBeat - Games - by Dean Takahashi". VentureBeat.
