25 ms·

Niantic, Maker of Hit ‘Pokémon Go’ App, Refuels with $3.9B Valuation

57 points by mpoon 8y ago

ruytlm 8y ago
>There is also hope that Niantic’s pending game with a Harry Potter theme will also be popular when it comes out some time next year. It will be interesting to see how successful this is, given that unlike Pokemon, Harry Potter isn't really a franchise defined by the location-based hunt-and-collect mechanic that drives Pokemon Go and Ingress.
- genericone 8y ago
  Guided swish and flick magic at Universal Studios is a pretty popular mechanic. Maybe Niantic can sell wands like they sell smart pokeball keychains and watches currently. And with better AR, the magic effects could overlay onto real world landmarks, ie make the Eiffel tower disappear with a swish in AR mode.
  - krapp 8y ago
    Getting into magical duels with other players might be fun.
- otoburb 8y ago
  >>[...] given that unlike Pokemon, Harry Potter isn't really a franchise defined by the location-based hunt-and-collect mechanic that drives Pokemon Go and Ingress. Pokémon itself wasn't location driven either before the launch of Pokémon Go.
  - krferriter 8y ago
    From what I've seen of Pokemon games before Pokemon Go, it seems like the majority of the game is spent walking your character around a map to explore buildings and landscape features.
  - steve19 8y ago
    The games, and I assume the anime, are about searching for pokemon in different locations.
    - otoburb 8y ago
      You assume correctly about the anime. Then again, Harry Potter also turned into a quest to search for Voldemort's seven horcruxes, so it won't be much of a stretch to adapt Harry Potter to a location-based game.
- hombre_fatal 8y ago
  I can't imagine it matters much since the core mechanic has proven to be so popular and it's really a squeeze of the IP tit. I bet a Harry Potter skin will be even bigger than Pokemon Go. I'd wager most people are on no more than can-recognize-pikachu terms with the Pokemon franchise yet Pokemon Go was a cultural phenomenon. Meanwhile most people I know have at least seen most Harry Potter movies. I know 30- and 40-somethings that have gone to Universal Studios' Harry Potter exhibit... dressed up. And the Harry Potter world has a particularly popular faction system (the Hogwarts houses). Certainly curious to see if Niantic can pull it off again.
  - krapp 8y ago
    >I'd wager most people are on no more than can-recognize-pikachu terms with the Pokemon franchise yet Pokemon Go was a cultural phenomenon. Umm... what? Pokemon was already a massive global cultural phenomenon before Niantic got it, an entire generation more or less grew up with the franchise. Hell, a lot of people were shocked Nintendo allowed an unknown company like Niantic anywhere near such a property. The existing popularity of Pokemon is the reason Pokemon Go was so popular, not the other way around.
    - Izkata 8y ago
      And Ingress got a massive boost due to being in XKCD. I doubt they'd've even gotten the chance to make Pokémon Go if it weren't for that.
- ArtWomb 8y ago
  Demand is there. The new Smash Bros sold 1M+ units in three days ;)
- nikanj 8y ago
  The two newest movies have had a very big "cool monsters"-streak to them. Not sure if they thought about making this game, when they were writing the scripts originally.
b_tterc_p 8y ago
I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.
- sandworm101 8y ago
  Potter is dead. It was a franchise pegged to a particular generation. The original author consciously upped the aged of the books to match the age of the fans. The movies did the same. Potter fans have now grown up. They don't relate to the material as they did as kids. They find the early material childish, silly. Marketing potter to them again is very difficult. Similar franchises (star wars/trek etc) did not attempt to 'grow up' alongside fans. So, decades later, they can still be relevant to new people. Star Wars VIII isn't attempting to be any more mature than Star Wars IV. But compare potter's first and latest movies. They are aiming at totally different age groups.
  - nwhatt 8y ago
    They are still making movies in the potter universe. The current one has grossed 150 million in a month. I bet universal studios and Harry Potter legos aren’t doing too bad either.
  - tehlike 8y ago
    I believe you could say the same thing for pokemon.
    - GolDDranks 8y ago
      Expect that Pokemon has done the exact opposite: it deliberately has not upped the age of the target audience of the core product. Ash is still ten years old, after adventuring for 20 years. And he's still "relatively unexperienced". Time doesn't pass. Pokemon has diversified the franchise selection though, there are now many goods (themed tableware etc.) aimed for more mature audience.
neonate 8y ago
https://outline.com/7E9wLe https://outline.com/7E9wLe
swampthinker 8y ago
I firmly believe that had Niantic been allowed to mimic the traditional Pokemon PvP, it would have been an even greater success. The core gameplay of the Nintendo games wasn't terribly complex, but had tons of replayability.
- travisr 8y ago
  What do you mean by "allowed"?
  - TotempaaltJ 8y ago
    From what I understand, their contract with Nintendo (or whoever) explicitly dissolve disallowed it.
    - wokwokwok 8y ago
      That’s an odd assertion, given PvP battles are now live. Do you have anything to back it up? My understanding was that they just have a small team and aren’t very good (ie. brave enough) at making changes beyond ‘text fixes’
      - oregontechninja 8y ago
        He's saying traditional as in a turn based strategy game like the core series (like Red and Blue). Many of the long time fans were turned away by lack of strategy.
        anoncoward111 8y ago
        Not only was the button mashing (and lag) extremely offputting, the worst feeling in the world was beating a level 6 gym by yourself and then someone puts their pokemon in before yours. I rage uninstalled pokemon go after that and my data bill has been rational ever since :)
- chc4 8y ago
craftyguy 8y ago
I wonder if they'll give any of that to OpenStreetMap.
taurath 8y ago
This feels a bit like Rovio for me - Pogo was very very popular but they look in every way like the classic one and done. They haven’t put very many good mechanics into any game yet
TeMPOraL 8y ago
Between Ingress, Pokémon Go and now Harry Potter, aren't they worried about fragmenting the landscape? There's only so much time an individual can spend on AR games; looking at how people moved between Ingress and Pokémon Go, I'd guess the limit is one popular game on the market, max two. Releasing more sounds like a way to selfpwn the entire business.
- hrrsn 8y ago
  Pokemon had mass appeal. Ingress was always relatively niche and nerdy.

57 points by mpoon 8y ago

>There is also hope that Niantic’s pending game with a Harry Potter theme will also be popular when it comes out some time next year. It will be interesting to see how successful this is, given that unlike Pokemon, Harry Potter isn't really a franchise defined by the location-based hunt-and-collect mechanic that drives Pokemon Go and Ingress.

genericone 8y ago
Guided swish and flick magic at Universal Studios is a pretty popular mechanic. Maybe Niantic can sell wands like they sell smart pokeball keychains and watches currently. And with better AR, the magic effects could overlay onto real world landmarks, ie make the Eiffel tower disappear with a swish in AR mode.
- krapp 8y ago
  Getting into magical duels with other players might be fun.
otoburb 8y ago
>>[...] given that unlike Pokemon, Harry Potter isn't really a franchise defined by the location-based hunt-and-collect mechanic that drives Pokemon Go and Ingress. Pokémon itself wasn't location driven either before the launch of Pokémon Go.
- krferriter 8y ago
  From what I've seen of Pokemon games before Pokemon Go, it seems like the majority of the game is spent walking your character around a map to explore buildings and landscape features.
- steve19 8y ago
  The games, and I assume the anime, are about searching for pokemon in different locations.
  - otoburb 8y ago
    You assume correctly about the anime. Then again, Harry Potter also turned into a quest to search for Voldemort's seven horcruxes, so it won't be much of a stretch to adapt Harry Potter to a location-based game.
hombre_fatal 8y ago
I can't imagine it matters much since the core mechanic has proven to be so popular and it's really a squeeze of the IP tit. I bet a Harry Potter skin will be even bigger than Pokemon Go. I'd wager most people are on no more than can-recognize-pikachu terms with the Pokemon franchise yet Pokemon Go was a cultural phenomenon. Meanwhile most people I know have at least seen most Harry Potter movies. I know 30- and 40-somethings that have gone to Universal Studios' Harry Potter exhibit... dressed up. And the Harry Potter world has a particularly popular faction system (the Hogwarts houses). Certainly curious to see if Niantic can pull it off again.
- krapp 8y ago
  >I'd wager most people are on no more than can-recognize-pikachu terms with the Pokemon franchise yet Pokemon Go was a cultural phenomenon. Umm... what? Pokemon was already a massive global cultural phenomenon before Niantic got it, an entire generation more or less grew up with the franchise. Hell, a lot of people were shocked Nintendo allowed an unknown company like Niantic anywhere near such a property. The existing popularity of Pokemon is the reason Pokemon Go was so popular, not the other way around.
  - Izkata 8y ago
    And Ingress got a massive boost due to being in XKCD. I doubt they'd've even gotten the chance to make Pokémon Go if it weren't for that.
ArtWomb 8y ago
Demand is there. The new Smash Bros sold 1M+ units in three days ;)
nikanj 8y ago
The two newest movies have had a very big "cool monsters"-streak to them. Not sure if they thought about making this game, when they were writing the scripts originally.

b_tterc_p 8y ago

I would bet on the Harry Potter game being a relative flop. The Japanese market will probably be dead and that accounted for a huge proportion of Pokémon Go’s revenue. I would also doubt that many “whales” would be immediately attracted to the premise. They will have a tough time not just being Pokémon go but with Harry Potter this time, and I bet that will hurt mainstream adoption.

sandworm101 8y ago
Potter is dead. It was a franchise pegged to a particular generation. The original author consciously upped the aged of the books to match the age of the fans. The movies did the same. Potter fans have now grown up. They don't relate to the material as they did as kids. They find the early material childish, silly. Marketing potter to them again is very difficult. Similar franchises (star wars/trek etc) did not attempt to 'grow up' alongside fans. So, decades later, they can still be relevant to new people. Star Wars VIII isn't attempting to be any more mature than Star Wars IV. But compare potter's first and latest movies. They are aiming at totally different age groups.
- nwhatt 8y ago
  They are still making movies in the potter universe. The current one has grossed 150 million in a month. I bet universal studios and Harry Potter legos aren’t doing too bad either.
- tehlike 8y ago
  I believe you could say the same thing for pokemon.
  - GolDDranks 8y ago
    Expect that Pokemon has done the exact opposite: it deliberately has not upped the age of the target audience of the core product. Ash is still ten years old, after adventuring for 20 years. And he's still "relatively unexperienced". Time doesn't pass. Pokemon has diversified the franchise selection though, there are now many goods (themed tableware etc.) aimed for more mature audience.

neonate 8y ago

https://outline.com/7E9wLe https://outline.com/7E9wLe

swampthinker 8y ago

I firmly believe that had Niantic been allowed to mimic the traditional Pokemon PvP, it would have been an even greater success. The core gameplay of the Nintendo games wasn't terribly complex, but had tons of replayability.

travisr 8y ago
What do you mean by "allowed"?
- TotempaaltJ 8y ago
  From what I understand, their contract with Nintendo (or whoever) explicitly dissolve disallowed it.
  - wokwokwok 8y ago
    That’s an odd assertion, given PvP battles are now live. Do you have anything to back it up? My understanding was that they just have a small team and aren’t very good (ie. brave enough) at making changes beyond ‘text fixes’
    - oregontechninja 8y ago
      He's saying traditional as in a turn based strategy game like the core series (like Red and Blue). Many of the long time fans were turned away by lack of strategy.
      - anoncoward111 8y ago
        Not only was the button mashing (and lag) extremely offputting, the worst feeling in the world was beating a level 6 gym by yourself and then someone puts their pokemon in before yours. I rage uninstalled pokemon go after that and my data bill has been rational ever since :)
chc4 8y ago

craftyguy 8y ago

I wonder if they'll give any of that to OpenStreetMap.

taurath 8y ago

This feels a bit like Rovio for me - Pogo was very very popular but they look in every way like the classic one and done. They haven’t put very many good mechanics into any game yet

TeMPOraL 8y ago

Between Ingress, Pokémon Go and now Harry Potter, aren't they worried about fragmenting the landscape? There's only so much time an individual can spend on AR games; looking at how people moved between Ingress and Pokémon Go, I'd guess the limit is one popular game on the market, max two. Releasing more sounds like a way to selfpwn the entire business.

hrrsn 8y ago
Pokemon had mass appeal. Ingress was always relatively niche and nerdy.