Niantic Inc. has laid off about 8% of its workforce and stopped production on several projects, the company said Wednesday, as the creator of the popular game “Pokémon Go” struggles to produce another breakout hit.
Closely held Niantic said it would devote attention to games such as “NBA All-World,” a newly announced title featuring augmented reality, or AR, technology that it’s making in partnership with the National Basketball Association. It will also work on its app-development platform called Lightship and “Pokémon Go,” the groundbreaking AR game for smartphones that exploded in popularity after launching in 2016.
