Niantic, an augmented reality (AR) platform that operates Pokemon GO, announced on March 10 that it has acquired 8th Wall, a WebAR development platform. It’s the biggest acquisition ever for Niantic. The acquisition will strengthen the company’s development platform and help developers create an AR vision.
Founded in 2016, Niantic said the 8th Wall is now compatible with billions of devices worldwide, including 5 billion iOS and Android smartphones, PCs and AR / VR headsets. The 8th Wall platform is used for AR development by a number of companies, including Netflix, Microsoft, and Universal Pictures.
“Since its inception, Niantic has been aiming to provide AR technology that provides opportunities for people to connect, explore, meet new things, and have fun together in the real world,” Niantic said in a blog announcing the acquisition. .. “To achieve this, we have created the world’s most precise 3D map of the Earth, fusing the real and digital worlds. With the Lightship platform introduced in November 2021, all developers Supporting developers’ creative efforts by providing the world’s largest immersive canvas for Niantic. The 8th Wall, Niantic’s largest merger to date, complements Niantic’s vision for Lightship. , We will continue to expand the Lightship platform with its proven Web AR technology. “
8th Wall founder and CEO Erik Murphy-Chutorian wrote on his blog about the acquisition that with Niantic, 8th Wall will develop more tools and people will discover new places. He said he would be able to create an attractive AR experience to do.
“We founded 8th Wall to develop powerful computer vision technology for developers to create AR applications that can run seamlessly anywhere,” says Murphy-Chutrian. “We did this with a complete set of tools for creating WebAR. The potential for web-based augmented reality is so great that we will continue to expand through the lenses of Niantic’s real-life AR world. We look forward to working with Niantic to create the best planetary technology and foster an even more engaging shared experience. “
A few months before the acquisition, Niantic raised $ 300 million under Coatue’s lead, reaching a company value of $ 9 billion. The company plans to use this money to create what it calls a “real-world metaverse.”
Pokemon GO is arguably Niantic’s most popular project and continues to be successful, with 2020 sales of over $ 1 billion, according to app research firm Sensor Tower. ing. However, not all Niantic games are successful. The company recently announced the end of service for “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.” Global in-app purchases and new installs of the app were both down 57% year-on-year.
Image credit: Niantic
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(Sentence: Aisha Malik, Translation: Nob Takahashi / facebook)
