Killed By Niantic

Endgame: Proving Ground

September 2014 - July 2015

Poor Thing Never Made It Out Of Development

Developed in a partnership with James Frey, author of the Endgame Series, players join twelve teams and participate in the interactive story. Gameplay was supposed to include player-vs-player features.

Field Trip

September 2012 - July 2019

Niantic's Original Product

The application was a virtual tour guide that recommended nearby landmarks and other points of interest. Field Trip paved the way for the games that followed.

Ingress [Redacted]

November 2012 - September 2019

Can Only Be Revived By Love's First Kiss

Ingress has been compared to geocaching and capture the flag. Players are called “agents” and have to choose to join one of two teams called “factions” to compete in regions called “cells” by drawing triangles called “fields” to influence the populations living under those fields called “mind units.”

Catan World Explorers

July 2020 - November 2021

Died In Beta

The gameplay was like Pokemon Go, but you had to collect brick, lumber, grain, ore, and wool.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

June 2019 - January 2022

Avada Kedavra

The gameplay was like Pokemon Go, but with dementors.

Hamlet

June 2020 - June 2022

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio

A partnership between Niantic and immersive theater company Punchdrunk that promised to, “lead to new advances in tech-empowered audience experience that will redefine gaming, inspiring audiences for generations to come.”

Blue Sky

??? - June 2022

Not Gonna Clear Up

On June 29, 2022 it was leaked to the press that Blue Sky was among four projects being killed by Niantic.

Snowball

??? - June 2022

Melted

On June 29, 2022 it was leaked to the press that Snowball was among four projects being killed by Niantic.

Transformers Heavy Metal

June 2021 - June 2022

Right In The AllSpark

In a completely original concept, you use your cellphone to collect giant robots and have them battle other giant robots for control of points of interest in the real world.

Journey to the Magic Gems

October 2022 - January 2023

They're Always After Me Lucky Charms

In what could only be described as an absolutely groundbreaking partnership, General Mills and Niantic really outdid themselves with this one. Who would have thought that a breakfast cereal could be the key to unlocking the future of augmented reality gaming?

Trading Post

November 2022 - June 2023

Not eFfing Traded

A collaboration between Niantic and SpotX, Trading Post was an attempt to create collectable NFT biocards for Ingress agents that were stored on the Polygon blockchain.

NBA All World

June 2022 - June 2023

Missed The Basket

Someone thought kids today needed to play one-on-one basketball in an AR simulation instead of on the court. Like a real NBA All-Star, you wandered your neighborhood, searching for sneakers and other gear drops, while playing mini-games.

MARVEL World of Heroes

September 2022 - June 2023

Was Announced

It’s a relief that we weren’t the interns assigned to replace all the Harry Potter images in the source code with X-Men. It was a huge year for Niantic as they secured two major deals with the NBA and Disney. Niantic only had to deliver a quality and bug-free video game to the public. The marketing video showcased three kids who develop superpowers and begin fighting.

Xgress

December 2016 - January 2024

The Calculus Changes Dramatically

Xgress was a frontend for a database containing the scraped data of Ingress agents from 2016 until 2024. The tool had a limited free version and a premium version with access to the complete dataset, a helpful IITC plugin to access portal history, and a telegram bot that would provide realtime tracking information of your favorite agents. Although Niantic didn’t produce Xgress, Xgress relied on Niantic’s data.

Community Forums

June 2019 - April 2024

A Place Where You Can Be Conveniently Ignored

Remember yelling into the void on Google+, only to be met with the deafening silence of Niantic’s social media team? Well, fret no more! Those days of inefficient public outreach are over. Niantic offers a whole new level of delightful frustration: official community forums! That’s right, folks. Why settle for the vibrant discussions and helpful advice on platforms like Twitter or Reddit when you can experience the exquisite joy of being lectured by Niantic’s very own officially labeled XM Ambassadors?

Truffel

March 2023 - Not Dead Yet

You Don't Need A Hog To Find This

Niantic launched Truffel at SXSW 2023 and described it as “Niantic’s new app that brings a city’s hidden gems to life.” It’s as if they merely blew the dust off Field Trip, their earlier virtual tour guide application for recommending nearby landmarks and other points of interest, and gave it a fresh coat of paint.

Campfire

May 2022 - Not Dead Yet

Invite Only

After locking down the markets for virtual pets and imaginary sky triangles, Niantic needed a new market to enter. Their executives had never heard of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Discord, Slack, or Telegram. So they decided to build on the success of the Comm feature in Ingress and created their own social network.

House of the Dragon: DracARys

June 2022 - Not Dead Yet

uni apps morghūlis

Maybe we’re giving Niantic too much credit because it will be Warner Bros. Discovery who decides to pull the plug on this one. WB licensed Lightship from Niantic to build this dragon-themed virtual Tamagotchi game. You get a dragon egg, you hatch it, you speak Valyrian to it, you cry when the app stops working because you got attached to your dragon friend and they shut down the servers, etc …

Ingress Prime

November 2012 - Not Dead Yet

Limping Towards Death

Ingress has been compared to geocaching and capture the flag. Players are called “agents” and have to choose to join one of two teams called “factions” to compete in regions called “cells” by drawing triangles called “fields” to influence the populations living under those fields called “mind units.” Following the success of Pokémon Go, Niantic knew that the community wanted flashier graphics and CPU-intensive animations that would drain their batteries faster than ever before, and Ingress Prime was born.

Monster Hunter Now

April 2023 - Not Dead Yet

Not A Bad Idea

Capcom announced its partnership with Niantic to create an AR version of Monster Hunter. While some may be skeptical of the collaboration, it’s worth noting that Niantic has plenty of experience in adapting Japanese video games that involve hunting monsters. They should be able to get 90% of the way there by applying this regular expression s/sneakers/weapons/ against the NBA All-World codebase. Can Niantic screw it up? We have faith they will. But, if we’re being fair, Monster Hunter is a good fit for Niantic.

Peridot

April 2022 - Not Dead Yet

Wants Ingress' Parking Space

Niantic’s first wholly-owned property since Ingress. You raise imaginary creatures from birth to adulthood and work with other players to diversify their species.

Pikmin Bloom

April 2021 - Not Dead Yet

Stepping Towards Eternal Sleep

Niantic partnered with Nintendo to develop a game that’s not much more than a pedometer. A cute pedometer. A cute pedometer that has reportedly delayed the delivery of notifications like SMS messages since the beta.

Pokemon Go

July 2016 - Not Dead Yet

Money Printer Go BRRR