Pokémon Go Creator Lays Off Staff ✂️ And Cancels Multiple Projects
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Pokémon Go Creator Lays Off Staff ✂️ And Cancels Multiple Projects
American gaming development firm and Pokémon Go developer Niantic canceled four projects and laid off more than 80 people in an effort to streamline operations.
In an internal email, Niantic CEO John Hanke told staff that the company was facing a time of economic turmoil.
He noted that despite ongoing efforts to cut increasing costs, the company still had to “further streamline our operations in order to best position the company to weather any economic storms that may lie ahead.”
Apart from laying off more than 80 employees, the company has also decided to cancel four projects, including Transformers: Heavy Metal and Project Hamlet, which is a partnership game with immersive theatre company Punchdrunk.
The company has also dropped Hamlet, a collaboration with the theater company behind “Sleep No More;” and two other projects called Blue Sky and Snowball.
While Niantic found big success with its augmented reality-(AR)-powered mobile game Pokémon Go nearly six years ago, its other AR games haven’t had tasted the same success.
Snapchat Launches its New Snapchat+ Subscription Program 🎉
Snapchat has officially rolled out its new Snapchat+ subscription program that asks users to pay a monthly fee to gain access to exclusive in-app features, including custom app icons, new profile badges, data insights, display tools, and more.
While the standard Snapchat accounts will be free for users, Snapchat+ will cost $3.99 per month. The company says that the service is intended for the “most passionate members” of Snapchat.
“Today we’re starting to roll out Snapchat+, a collection of exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features available in Snapchat for $3.99/month,” said the company.
“This subscription will allow us to deliver new Snapchat features to some of the most passionate members of our community and allow us to provide prioritized support,” it added.
The picture-based messaging app said that the new service will be initially launched in the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The company plans to expand its services to other countries later on.
MicroStrategy Buys the Dip ⏬, Adds 480 More Bitcoins to Its Holdings
Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, which is one of the most prominent advocates of buying and holding bitcoins, has added 480 Bitcoin (BTC) to its holdings.
The company has taken advantage of the current low price of bitcoin by acquiring 480 BTC for around $10 million.
MicroStrategy has accumulated these bitcoins to its holdings from May 3, 2022, and June 28, 2022, at an average price of approximately $20,817 per bitcoin.
With this purchase, the company has reaffirmed CEO Michael Saylor’s bullish outlook on the digital asset despite its recent struggles.
In a Tweet, the company CEO Michael Saylor confirmed the purchase saying, “MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 480 bitcoins for ~$10.0 million at an average price of ~$20,817 per #bitcoin.
MicroStrategy now holds 129,699 BTC, making it the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin.
The company made its first investment of $250 million in bitcoins in August 2020, and since then, it has invested nearly $4 billion to buy bitcoins in different purchases using the company’s cash on hand and other funds.
Scaleup Investor Entrepreneur First Raises $158 Million in Series C Funding 💰
Entrepreneur First (EF), a scaleup investor supporting individuals in building technology companies, has raised $158 million in its Series C funding round.
The funding saw participation from veteran technology founders, including Taavet Hinrikus, Tom Blomfield, Matt Mullenweg, Nat Friedman, Sarah Leary, Lachy Groom, Claire Hughes Johnson, Sara Clemens, Elad Gil, and Matt Robinson, among others.
New investors Patrick and John Collison also participated in the round.
Entrepreneur First is an international talent investor that brings ambitious founders together to build globally important technology companies.
The platform, which is currently running in 6 cities across 3 continents, invests in high-potential individuals to help meet their ideas and secure funding from leading investors in the shortest possible time.
Since its inception in 2011, the company has built more than 300 companies from scratch with a portfolio valued at over $5 billion.
EF will use the latest funds to make investments in new startups and launch new products aimed at upending the typical venture capital model.
Around the Web 🌐
Taiwan Central Bank is Working on Interest-Free Digital Currency: Taiwan’s central bank governor, Chin-long Yang, has recommended a no-interest design for the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot. While it’s unclear when the scheme could roll out to the public, Yang said that the entire process may last more than the anticipated two-year period.
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