Niantic Labs added that it will look to build upon the success that it found with Ingress, which has been downloaded over 12 million times and has attracted over 250,000 people to live events happening across the world.
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“Niantic Labs is becoming an independent company; we’ll be taking our unique blend of exploration and fun to even bigger audiences with some incredible new partners joining Google as collaborators and backers”.
Last month Google announced that its social networking platform Google+ was preparing to go through a number of feedback-based changes, starting with the removal of forced cross-platform posting between Google+ and YouTube.
A spokesperson for Google said that Niantic Labs is ready to accelerate its growth through its decision to become an independent company, but Google will continue its support as the company continues to bring fun and exploration to more users worldwide.
Niantic Labs is no longer a Google company; however, it is not yet clear what the main reason behind this separation is.
The new split is highly unusual for the way Google manages its resources and it means that Niantic Labs will no longer be part of Alphabet, another new company that will take shape later this year, aiming to include Google and other parts of the organization. It is also planning on a Ingress inspired television show as well. The Niantic move is only a fragment of the new business strategy. But Wednesday’s announcement, as well as job openings posted to Niantic’s website, suggest that the future of the company may be in entertainment, and perhaps in closer partnerships with Hollywood.
Under the reconstruction, many of Google’s core online services such as ads, maps and search will remain in the company that will be called Google Inc.
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Niantic Labs, best known for augmented reality hit Ingress, is to spin off from parent company Google and forge its own path.
