December 2, 2021 – Niantic, developer of Pokémon GO, and provider of a ‘planet-scale’ augmented reality (AR) platform, has recently announced that it is acquiring Lowkey, a social gaming platform that offers gamers a way to capture and share gameplay moments.
Commenting in a Niantic blog post, Ivan Zhou, previous CEO and co-founder of Mayhem, which was acquired by Niantic earlier this year, said: “[Lowkey’s] leadership in this space will accelerate the social experiences we’re building in our Niantic products. We share a common vision for building community around shared experiences, and enabling new ways to connect and play for our explorers.”
Lowkey’s app allowed users to make and share mobile-friendly short videos which could be posted to a community video feed, as well as exported to TikTok & Instagram. The company’s software also included editing tools and a content library of clips, allowing users to create content even if they didn’t have their own gaming clips to work from (of course, whilst crediting original players).
Zhou continued: “We believe AR has the potential to impact humanity in transformative ways, and it is our intention to continue building social tools that contribute to this goal. Today, that takes the form of experiences like in-game chat in Ingress, gift exchanges in Pokémon GO, Postcard sharing in Pikmin Bloom, and meeting up at our many real-world live events.”
Niantic has not disclosed any transaction amount for the acquisition, nor has it confirmed what exactly it is that the Lowkey team members will be doing now that they are part of the company. However, Niantic broadly noted that the Lowkey team will be helping to build the future of Niantic’s social experiences.
Niantic recently announced a USD $300 million investment from Coatue, putting its valuation at USD $9 billion. For more information on Niantic and its augmented reality solutions and apps, please visit the company’s website.
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Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.