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San Francisco based developer Niantic has acquired the New Zealand based developer NZXR. The collective of talent has a reputation for creating AR-first experiences and helping companies and brands create interactive and engaging apps and prototypes for both mobile phones and Augmented Reality headsets.

In joining Niantic, the NZXR team forms an integral part of the design and development of the multiplayer real-world AR experiences Niantic creates.

Niantic is the developer behind the wildly successful Pokémon Go mobile app. It’s also the developer of the potentially lesser known but arguably way cooler Ingress (and reboot Ingress Prime).

Even if you know nothing about Ingress, admit it. It looks cool.

NZXR has similarly created unique multiplayer AR experiences for mobile devices. It also produced software for AR headsets from Qualcomm, as well as Magic Leap. The NZXR team has created dozens of experiences and supported projects; interactive theater, AR skateboarding, multiplayer AR demos, and more.

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Niantic stated goal is to create augmented reality experiences for millions of people to enjoy. It also wants to continue to build on the technology that powers those experiences, as well as third-party applications. The AR-focused dev kit, Niantic Lightship, powers Ingress, Pokémon Go, and Pikmin Bloom. 

The fusion of Niantic and NZXR will help accelerate new kinds of AR experiences for the real-world metaverse. 

“We’re excited to welcome NZXR to Niantic and continue building the future of AR and the real-world metaverse together,” wrote Niantic’s Dennis Hwang.

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