Pokémon Go developer Niantic is desperately looking for the next hit

One definitely can’t fault Niantic for not being on the lookout for the next hit to follow on from Pokémon Go released in 2016.

No other game in the company has achieved a similar breakthrough, and part of the workforce is now feeling the effects.

Layoffs and discontinued projects

“We recently decided to stop production on some projects and reduce our workforce by about 8 percent to focus on our top priorities,” the company said Bloomberg With. “We are grateful for the contributions of those who are leaving Niantic and we support them in this difficult transition.”

These eight percent correspond to around 85 to 90 employees. One of the four canceled projects is Transformers: Heavy Metal, announced last year. It has been tested in some markets since last summer, but apparently not very successfully.

A theater project called Hamlet was also shelved, as were two other projects called Blue Sky and Snowball.

As mentioned, one continues to search for a similarly large success as Pokémon Go. An AR game for Harry Potter was discontinued at the beginning of the year, an AR version of Catan last year. Pikmin Bloom is also not supposed to be a huge success.

Just this week, Niantic announced a brand new project, NBA All-World. More are in the works, including peridot.