Niantic Labs, a small gaming company previously owned by Google, has gone from a somewhat obscure gaming shop to one of the most prominent developers overnight.
The company launched Pokémon Go in July 2016, the first very long-awaited smartphone version of a Pokémon game. After holding out for nearly a decade, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company have finally unleashed one of its most popular franchises onto smartphones, with Niantic Labs being central to the app’s development.
Niantic Labs has long had its roots in location-based technology, going all the way back to the early 2000s in CEO John Hanke’s first mapping company Keyhole. Follow along for a brief history of the company by clicking the arrows on the gallery.
John Hanke's early MMO fascinations
Niantic CEO John Hanke already had a fascination with massive online games, starting a company called Archetype Interactive in 1994, according to an interview with Game Informer.
Archetype Interactive was responsible for an early 3D massively multiplayer online game called Meridian 59. That fascination with online games would clearly continue with him as he went on to work on other projects.
Which leads us to Keyhole
That leads us to Keyhole, which Hanke started in 2001. Keyhole’s first product, EarthViewer, was used in news broadcasts during the 2003 invasion in Iraq, boosting visibility for the company.
The company had several backers, including Sony, In-Q-Tel and Nvidia.
Applying Keyhole's technology: Google Earth
That clearly got Google’s attention, which acquired the company in 2004. At the time, Google said it would continue to offer Keyhole’s services interrupted, and dropped the price of the software — which previously cost as much as $599.
Keyhole’s technology was eventually implemented into Google Earth.
A stint running Google Geo
Following his work on Google Earth, Hanke did a stint working on Google’s Geo division. That included early implementations of Google Maps, which would go on to become one of Google’s most successful products.
Larry Page keeps him around
Hanke, according to the New York Times, was looking to leave the company and start something new around 2012. But CEO Larry Page, who had recently taken over control of the company from Eric Schmidt, convinced him to stay and offered an opportunity to run a new operation inside Google.
All this was part of an ongoing effort by Page to retain talented employees, who were increasingly offered the opportunity to jump to other rapidly-growing companies like Facebook and Twitter and found themselves working in an increasingly large corporation.
Niantic Labs launches inside Google
That led to the birth of Niantic Labs, was ramped up in order to build location-based mobile apps with social components.
Niantic Labs, Hanke told The New York Times, was named after a ship that was used during the Gold Rush.
Niantic Labs' first app: Field Trip
Niantic Labs’ first project was Field Trip, which launched in September 2012. Field Trip was intended to be a location-based guide to cities, pulling data from various locations like Thrillist and Zagat (also owned by Google). Field Trip would show users cards with various information about historical places or nearby restaurants.
It wasn’t a game, but it offered an early glimpse at the location-based technology that Niantic Labs was developing. All that would eventually be mixed up with Niantic Labs’ future games.
A new gaming experience emerges with Ingress
Niantic Labs followed that project up with a sci-fi massive multiplayer game called Ingress, which encouraged users to walk around the world in order to gather objects and participate in battles that over time unlock more clues about the Ingress universe.
Much of the mechanics built in Ingress would go on to be utilized inside Pokémon Go. Ingress launched as an invite-only game late 2012.
Google spins out Niantic Labs into a new company
In August last year, Google spun Niantic Labs out into its own company.
While Niantic Labs had plenty of resources within Google, larger corporations often spin out projects into new companies in order to enable them to operate in a more nimble fashion. It’s also helpful to spin out projects that might not align with the company’s core competencies, in which gaming was not something Google was emphasizing much.
In these cases it hardly means a full break from a company — and Google would still remain involved with the company in some capacity.
Fresh funding arrives — with help from The Pokémon Company
That would include Google’s participation in a new funding round for Niantic Labs following its spinout. While Pokémon Go was in the works, Niantic Labs secured $20 million in funding from Google, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo
Pokémon Go launches to massive acclaim…
Those efforts bore fruit. Pokémon Go came out and was immediately embraced by the gaming community. A mixture of beautiful design and untapped nostalgia, Pokémon’s first foray into smartphones proved to be an instant hit.
The app immediately rocketed to the top of both of the App Store charts: Popular free downloads, and apps that generate the most money.
… and rockets to the top of the charts, warts and all
All that said, Pokémon Go launched with its fair share of bugs. Plagued by crashing applications, overloaded servers and a snafu involving its interaction with Google accounts, Niantic Labs has been frantically trying to resolve those issues.
The company released an updated version of its app, aiming to fix a lot of those issues. It remains to be seen when everything is resolved, but one thing is clear: Pokémon Go has hit an unprecedented level of popularity among the general population.
VIA - techcrunch.com
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