Niantic to launch a metaverse

Remember Pokemon Go and the worldwide obsession over it?

Its creator Niantic is now nurturing its own metaverse plans, and it has secured a serious support in the form of $300M ?  raised from Coatue, a New-York-based investment firm.

Since the release of Pokemon Go back in 2016 some 1Bn people downloaded it, and millions still play it to this day. Very logical, Niantic’s move into the metaverse will allow to leverage this massive user base. Moreover, an Augmented Reality metaverse bridging virtual and real worlds will give users different experience from purely virtual ones.  

Niantic did not precise whether its metaverse will be centralized, like Meta’s, or decentralized, but the fact that Coatue has also invested in such well-known crypto companies as Chainalysis, CertiK or Fireblocks, may lead to believe that there will be some blockchain use.

Niantic’s crypto-friendliness can also be deduced from its recent partnership with Fold, an American crypto reward app that will be able to profit from Niantic Augmented Reality software to make its UX more enjoyable and fun, allowing notably to chase sats in a real-world environment.

The race for the metaverse is just getting started ?