The maker of the Pokemon Go video game, Niantic, says it will cut a quarter of its workforce as the gaming industry faces a slowdown in demand after downloads surged during the pandemic. The firm will also close its studio in Los Angeles and cancel two games. "We have allowed our expenses to grow faster than revenue," US-based Niantic's chief executive John Hanke said in a statement. Pokemon Go became a global phenomenon when it was released in 2016. At the time, technology giant Apple said the augmented-reality game broke its app store record for the most downloads in a week. "The top priority is to keep Pokemon Go healthy and growing as a forever game," Mr Hanke said. However, he also said that since the game's launch, "the mobile market has become crowded and changes to the app store and the mobile advertising landscape have made it increasingly hard to launch new mobile games at scale." A total of 230 workers from across Niantic, including those in its game platform team, will be affected by the job cuts.
