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