All articles tagged with #niantic
To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Pokémon Go staged a massive Mewtwo battle in Times Square, underscoring Niantic and Scopely’s focus on in‑person, community events that have helped the game remain popular—boasting more than 800 million downloads and about $1 billion in Go revenue in 2025.
To celebrate Pokémon Go’s 10th anniversary, an invite-only event in Times Square drew about 2,000 real‑world trainers for a live Mega Mewtwo Y raid, which was livestreamed and followed by a weekend global Pokémon Go Fest event; the milestone underscores the game’s enduring popularity, its strong in-person event model, and Scopely’s continued management after Niantic’s games division was acquired.
Today Niantic’s games team officially renamed to Scopely Explore, marking the latest step in Scopely’s control of Niantic’s gaming division since its 2023 acquisition; the Pokémon GO team remains unchanged. The broader deal was orchestrated by Savvy Games Group (Saudi Arabia’s PIF) for about $4.9B in 2023. Niantic Spatial will continue as a geospatial AI entity, while Peridot is set to sunset with app store removal on May 14, 2026 and servers closing August 31, 2026, as other projects like Ingress Prime and Hello, Dot continue under the new structure.
A 51-year-old man from Niantic, Connecticut, died after falling during a rock concert at Madison Square Garden.
A Dutch report claims Pokémon Go player scans and uploaded videos were used by Niantic Spatial and defense firm Vantor to train a Visual Positioning System that helps drones navigate GPS-denied areas; the data reportedly comes from billions of scans and a 2025 partnership, though Niantic denies using game data for drones, and the scope of training data remains disputed.
Niantic Spatial trained a centimeter-accurate AI map from billions of Pokemon Go images, creating a visual-positioning system for delivery robots and sparking privacy concerns over players unknowingly contributing data.
Pokémon GO's servers experienced a widespread outage during the Mega Rayquaza Raid Day in Japan, causing frustration among players worldwide as they couldn't join raids or access game features, with no official statement from Niantic yet.
Pokemon Go is overhauling its leveling system on October 15, increasing the level cap from 50 to 80, adding new rewards, cosmetics, and features to make progression more rewarding. Players can earn bonuses and special items before the update, and existing levels will be adjusted based on total XP. The update aims to enhance player engagement with new tasks, increased storage, and better chances of becoming Lucky Friends.
Pokémon Go is increasing its trainer level cap from 50 to 80 starting October 15th, with new tasks and rewards, while hosting an XP celebration event from August 25th to October 14th to help players level up. Some exclusive rewards will be discontinued, but existing ones remain accessible.
Niantic has confirmed that using 'Micro GPS Drift' to manipulate location in Pokémon GO is a violation of the game's Terms of Service, and players caught using this exploit risk account warnings or bans. The practice involves intentionally toggling GPS to access gyms and raids beyond normal range, but Niantic's anti-cheat systems can detect this behavior. Players are advised to play within the rules to maintain fair gameplay.
The Pokémon GO community is divided over Niantic's new systems, which have made the game more complex and less accessible. Features like Shadow Raids and Max Battles require extensive preplanning, farming of special items, and coordination with other players, making it difficult for solo players and those in smaller communities to participate. This shift from the game's original "pick up and go" style has frustrated many players, drawing comparisons to the demanding gameplay of World of Warcraft's early days.
Galarian Corsola, a new addition to Pokémon GO, is proving to be a strong contender in PvP battles due to its high bulk and improved moveset. Unlike its Water/Rock predecessor, this mono-Ghost type Pokémon has few vulnerabilities and benefits from recent buffs to its moves. Although currently only available through eggs, making it challenging to obtain ideal IVs, Galarian Corsola's performance in the Great League is impressive, boasting a high win rate against many meta Pokémon. Its evolved form, Cursola, however, lacks the same PvP viability.
Pokémon Go's "An Accomplished Trainer" Special Research, available during the Go Wild Area: Global 2024 event, allows players to choose between electric or poison paths, impacting quest steps and post-event bonuses. Completing the research by November 25 unlocks bonuses like double damage for chosen types and increased Team Go Rocket appearances. The choice also affects the final rewards, including a costumed Pikachu and a Dynamax Toxtricity form, with the decision potentially influencing raid strategies against specific Pokémon.
Niantic, the creator of Pokémon Go, has revealed plans to use data from the game to develop a Large Geospatial Model (LGM), an AI tool designed to help machines understand and navigate real-world environments. This has led to feelings of betrayal among some players, although Niantic maintains that the data usage was disclosed in the game's terms and privacy policy. The LGM aims to enhance future augmented reality and robotic applications, but concerns about potential misuse of AI data remain.
Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go, has used the game's popularity to collect detailed images and scans of over 10 million locations worldwide, surpassing even Google's street view in some areas. By leveraging players' movements, Niantic has developed a Visual Positioning System that uses these scans to train neural networks, creating digital recreations of real-world spaces. This data collection aims to enhance augmented reality products, autonomous systems, and navigation, effectively positioning Niantic as a competitor to Google Maps.