Niantic has bought another firm to help it build out its augmented reality platforms. The Pokémon Go creator has revealed that it purchased social gaming platform Lowkey and absorbed most of the staff to its team.
The financial terms of the deal aren’t disclosed.
Lowkey is a gaming-centric social network that allows users to capture, edit and share gameplay videos.
“I’m excited to announce we’re acquiring the team behind Lowkey, a social gaming platform that offers gamers a fun and easy way to capture and share their favorite gameplay moments,” said Ivan Zhou, head of product at Niantic. “Their leadership in this space will accelerate the social experiences we’re building in our Niantic products. We share a common vision for building a community around shared experiences and enabling new ways to connect and play for our explorers. We look forward to bringing the Lowkey team onboard to build the future of Niantic social experiences and make a positive impact on people’s lives.”
The acquisition of Lowkey will help Niantic realize its recently stated goal of building a “real-world metaverse.” The company recently raised $300 million to help it achieve its objective. The fundraising event propelled the company’s market valuation to $9 billion.
Niantic didn’t specify what the Lowkey staff will be doing with its AR games and experiences. Still, it stated that its “leadership in this area will accelerate the social experiences it is developing in its products.”
Niantic announced earlier this month that it would begin licensing its AR technology. Its Lightship ARDK will remain free for the first six months, but from May 2022, Niantic will start charging for multiplayer APIs for apps that have over 50,000 monthly active users.
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