It’s really sad when a rather predictable outcome arrives, and all you can do is shake your head and wonder what else will happen. Over the last few years, the gaming industry has taken hit after hit due to layoffs and studio shutdowns. While 2025 may not be doing it at the pace that 2024 did, it’s still happening, and it’s rather frustrating when it happens to companies that seem to be “rolling in it” and yet decide to lay off people anyway. The latest casualty in this field of battle is Niantic, which now refers to itself as Niantic Spatial, which might confuse some of you upon hearing that.
After all, as we noted not too long ago, the company sold its gaming division to the Saudi Arabian-owned company Scopely for $3.5 billion! You’d think that would set them up for life. Instead, in a bid to make itself “look like a startup again,” as noted by Game Developer, the company is actually laying off 68 members of its staff soon. The report that revealed it states that Niantic Spatial will let people go on May 20th.
This is another blow to the industry and further proof that “big deals” don’t always mean that everyone is sticking around.
