A good reason to put on your sneakers.

After the "Pokémon Go" phenomenon, Niantic is betting on basketball: the American publisher of immersive video games, specializing in augmented reality on smartphones, is launching a title in partnership with the NBA, reinforcing its vision of a "metaverse » accessible to all.

In "NBA All-World", each player, via his avatar, must walk down the street to meet virtual players, whether NBA stars like Lebron James or other users, and challenge them in a duel in 1 against 1 or 3-point shots.

On smartphones

Founded in 2010, Niantic wants to offer the possibility of daily travel in universes integrating virtual elements into the real world thanks to augmented reality.

As in "Pokémon Go", its flagship game launched in 2016 where players hunt creatures that they can visualize both in their living room and in a park outside.

For this, there is no need for a virtual reality (VR) headset, only the screen of a smartphone is enough.

The "perfect" instrument to materialize the vision of a "metaverse of the real world", with a social and accessible dimension, "as opposed to the metaverse which only exists on a 3D browser", confides to AFP John Hanke, the boss of Niantic.

“It's important to support what we do in the real world, as human beings, like going out, going to restaurants, meeting our friends.

Putting on a VR (headset) and fending for myself, for me is a very lonely and scary future.

I hope that humanity will not go in this direction,” he adds.



Free, but...

Niantic's business model is based on microtransactions: the games are free but players can, with a dedicated currency, buy virtual items, which allow them to progress faster or personalize their avatar with "sneakers" from brands like Adidas or Puma, partners of “NBA All-World”.

A cultural phenomenon with over a billion downloads, "Pokémon Go" has generated an average of around $1 billion a year since its launch in July 2016, according to estimates by Sensor Tower.

But Niantic has since been unable to replicate that success, like the “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” fiasco.

Launched in 2019, the game stopped in January 2022, for lack of an audience.

Worse, due to the “economic turmoil” that has hit the tech sector globally, Niantic announced in April an 8% reduction in its workforce and the cessation of four video game projects to focus on its “priorities ".

"Maybe another game we make for the future will have the same kind of instant viral success, but that's probably not a realistic expectation because it's kind of an unusual scenario." he.

The 5G advantage

The other development perspective for its model is the rise of the 5G mobile network, while Niantic is also increasing partnerships with major telecom operators such as the American Verizon.

"5G will strengthen public gaming, obviously by facilitating access to content on the phone, with richer graphics", underlines John Hnake, praising the "technical advantages" offered by the latest generation mobile network.

“We have big events like Pokémon Go Fest,” the last edition of which took place in Berlin in August, “where we concentrate 30,000 to 50,000 people in a small area.

5G is better at supporting that."

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  • 20 Minutes

  • Metavers

  • Augmented reality

  • Virtual reality

  • Pokemon

  • Basketball

  • NBA