San Francisco's Niantic, originally famous for its blockbuster game "Pokémon Go," is undergoing a significant restructuring, resulting in the loss of 68 jobs from its local workforce. Citing the necessity to pivot towards a more streamlined company structure, CEO John Hanke conveyed the difficult decision in a company-wide email, explicitly stating that the layoffs were not a reflection of the employees' performance but a move towards transforming into the geospatial-focused branch, "Niantic Spatial," as reported by SFGATE.

Details from the SF Examiner reveal the layoffs to be executed in two waves, one on May 20 and another on June 15, vouchsafed by Christine Ofori, Niantic's chief people officer, in a letter to the state Employment Development Department. The positions affected range across the company's hierarchy, impairing roles such as the chief technology and financial officers. Niantic's substantial shift in business direction comes after a $3.85 billion sale of its gaming division to the mobile game maker Scopely, owned by the Saudi Arabia-based, sovereign-wealth-fund Savvy Games Group.

The impending layoffs and company division come amidst a reframing of Niantic's operational focus towards "geospatial AI." As a part of this new venture, Niantic Spatial is set to establish itself with $200 million coming from Niantic's reserves, buttressed by an additional $50 million from Scopely, as shared in an official statement available in Niantic's blog post. This new entity aims to develop technologies that facilitate understanding of physical spaces, not just for entertainment but also for practical applications in warehousing and remote collaboration.