Niantic Spatial

Niantic Spatial, Inc. is a San Francisco-based company focused on physical artificial intelligence, spatial computing, augmented reality, and geospatial mapping. It was established in May 2025 as a spin-off created after Niantic sold its licensed mobile-games business to Scopely. The new company retained Niantic’s Ingress and Peridot franchises, together with the mapping, visual-positioning, scanning, and augmented-reality technologies that had developed alongside Niantic’s games business. The company’s central proposition is that machines and software need a structured understanding of the physical world rather than only conventional geographic coordinates or two-dimensional maps. Niantic Spatial develops what it describes as geospatial world models, combining three-dimensional reconstruction, visual positioning, computer vision, semantic understanding, and large-scale spatial data. These capabilities are intended to help robots, autonomous systems, enterprise workers, defense users, utilities, and creators understand where they are, what surrounds them, and how objects and environments relate to one another. Its platform technology includes a large geospatial model built from a proprietary database of more than 30 billion posed images. The company uses this data to support spatial reasoning, localization, and interpretation of real-world environments. Its Visual Positioning System, or VPS, is designed to determine position, orientation, and movement using visual information and mapped surroundings. The system can support both pre-mapped and unmapped locations, including settings where GPS is unreliable or unavailable. Semantic-analysis tools classify elements of a scene and identify and track more than 200 object types. Scaniverse is the company’s principal capture and reconstruction platform. Available through web and mobile interfaces, it can turn imagery from phones, 360-degree cameras, drones, satellites, and other sensors into three-dimensional assets, including meshes, Gaussian-splat reconstructions, and VPS maps. These assets can be used in augmented reality, digital-twin workflows, robotics, simulation, and other spatial-computing applications. The company also operates 8th Wall, a WebAR development platform, although it announced that the service would be discontinued after a transition period extending into early 2027. Niantic Spatial’s commercial scope extends beyond consumer entertainment. Partnerships and pilots have covered robotics navigation, drone and satellite imagery, defense and Coast Guard training, oil-refinery operations, immersive entertainment, and AI mapping. Its technology has also been made eligible for procurement through U.S. government technology marketplaces. The company’s retained consumer properties provide an ongoing connection to location-based entertainment: Ingress remains a global, real-world competitive game, while Peridot is an augmented-reality and artificial-intelligence pet franchise with additional mixed-reality and smart-glasses experiences. The business was initially capitalized with $250 million: $200 million from Niantic’s balance sheet and a $50 million investment from Scopely. Niantic’s original investors remained shareholders in the spun-out entity. The founding leadership included John Hanke as chief executive, Brian McClendon as chief technology officer, and Thomas Gewecke as president and chief operating officer. In March 2026, Inhi Cho Suh became chief executive officer, while Hanke moved to executive chairman and continued as board chair. Niantic Spatial therefore combines a consumer-facing augmented-reality heritage with an enterprise-oriented physical-AI strategy.

Niantic Spatial’s origins lie in the technology organization that grew out of Niantic, an internal Google startup established in 2010. Niantic initially became known for location-based augmented-reality games, but its work also produced mapping, computer-vision, and spatial-computing capabilities. Over time, these activities developed along two connected paths: consumer entertainment built around real-world locations and technical systems designed to help devices understand and operate in physical environments. The corporate separation that created Niantic Spatial followed Niantic’s 2025 agreement to sell its licensed mobile-games division to Scopely. Announced on March 12, 2025, the transaction was valued at $3.5 billion and was completed on May 29, 2025. Pokémon GO, Monster Hunter Now, Pikmin Bloom, and associated applications moved to Scopely, while Ingress and Peridot remained with the spatial-technology business. The resulting company was established as Niantic Spatial in May 2025. Niantic Spatial was initially capitalized with $250 million, comprising $200 million from Niantic’s balance sheet and a $50 million investment from Scopely. Niantic’s original investors continued as shareholders. John Hanke became chief executive officer, Brian McClendon became chief technology officer, and Thomas Gewecke became president and chief operating officer. Hanke and McClendon had earlier founded Keyhole, whose technology became part of the foundations of Google Earth and Google Maps. The new company presented itself as a physical-AI and spatial-computing business rather than simply a game publisher. Its technical program centers on a large geospatial model, three-dimensional reconstruction, visual positioning, and semantic interpretation. Niantic Spatial describes its underlying database as containing more than 30 billion posed images. Its systems are intended to create machine-readable representations of places, identify objects and environmental features, and localize users or autonomous systems even in conditions where GPS is degraded or unavailable. Scaniverse became a major vehicle for capturing and reconstructing the physical world. It supports mobile and web workflows and can process imagery from phones, 360-degree cameras, drones, satellites, and other sensors. The resulting outputs include meshes, Gaussian-splat scenes, and maps suitable for visual positioning. These capabilities support potential applications in robotics, simulation, digital twins, enterprise operations, defense, utilities, and augmented reality. During 2025 and 2026, Niantic Spatial announced partnerships across several industries. Snap invested in the company and agreed to collaborate on scanning, VPS, and AI mapping. Meow Wolf explored using spatial technology to distribute its entertainment universe beyond fixed venues. Aechelon Technology applied the company’s reconstruction capabilities to Coast Guard flight training, while Kojima Productions pursued interactive storytelling in real-world settings. Later initiatives involved Vantor’s GPS-denied positioning work, Coco Robotics’ urban delivery robots, Spexi Geospatial’s drone-derived city models, ExxonMobil refinery operations, and a robotics simulation demonstration involving Flexion AI and NVIDIA. The company also maintained consumer and creator-facing assets. Ingress, launched in 2012 and rebuilt on Unity in 2018, uses real landmarks as the setting for a global contest over virtual portals. Peridot, launched in 2023, is an augmented-reality and AI-supported virtual-pet franchise. Planned or announced extensions include Hello, Dot for Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro and Peridot Beyond for Snap Spectacles. Niantic Spatial also operated 8th Wall, a browser-based augmented-reality creation platform. In November 2025, it announced that 8th Wall would be shut down after a transition period, with existing projects available until early 2027 and substantial portions of the platform released as open source during 2026. In March 2026, Hanke appointed Inhi Cho Suh as chief executive officer and moved into the executive-chairman role. Hanke remained an executive and board chair. This change marked a further development from the company’s founder-led origin toward an organization focused on commercializing spatial intelligence across enterprise, government, robotics, and immersive-media markets.

• 2026

  Leadership transition

  [1]Niantic Spatialen.wikipedia.org

  Inhi Cho Suh becomes CEO, while John Hanke becomes executive chairman.

• 2025

  Niantic announces sale of its mobile-games division

  [1]Niantic Spatialen.wikipedia.org

  Niantic announces a $3.5 billion agreement to sell its licensed mobile-games business to Scopely.

• 2025

  Niantic Spatial is formed

  [1]Niantic Spatialen.wikipedia.org

  The sale to Scopely closes and Niantic Spatial is spun out with Ingress, Peridot, and the spatial-technology business.

• 2025

  Snap investment and mapping partnership

  [1]Niantic Spatialen.wikipedia.org

  Snap invests an undisclosed amount and begins a multiyear collaboration around scanning, VPS, and AI mapping.

• 2012

  Ingress launches

  [1]Niantic Spatialen.wikipedia.org

  Ingress introduces a location-based competition in which players contest virtual portals associated with real-world landmarks.

• 2010

  Niantic begins as a Google internal startup

  [1]Niantic Spatialen.wikipedia.org

  The technology and team that later contributed to Niantic Spatial began within Google as an internal startup.

A physical-AI and spatial-computing company helping machines and people understand, localize within, and interact with the real world through geospatial models, 3D reconstruction, visual positioning, and augmented reality.

• 3D scanning and reconstruction platform

  Scaniverse

  Scaniverse is a web and mobile capture platform that converts imagery from phones, 360-degree cameras, drones, satellites, and other sensors into three-dimensional representations. Its outputs include meshes, Gaussian-splat reconstructions, and VPS maps. The resulting assets can support augmented reality, digital twins, robotics simulation, mapping, and physical-AI development.

• Spatial localization service

  Visual Positioning System

  Niantic Spatial’s VPS uses visual information and spatial maps to estimate position, orientation, and movement for users, devices, agents, and augmented-reality content. It is intended to operate across mapped and unmapped settings and can be useful where GPS is inaccurate, obstructed, or unavailable.

• Location-based augmented-reality game · 2012

  Ingress

  Ingress is a global, location-based competitive game in which players align with opposing factions and contest virtual portals placed at real-world landmarks. The game launched in 2012 and was rebuilt using Unity in 2018. It transferred to Niantic Spatial when the company was separated from Niantic’s licensed-games business.

• Augmented-reality virtual-pet franchise · 2023

  Peridot

  Peridot is an augmented-reality and AI-supported pet-simulation franchise launched on mobile devices in 2023. Its extensions include Hello, Dot, a mixed-reality experience for Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro, and Peridot Beyond, an augmented-reality glasses experience developed for Snap Spectacles.

• WebAR development platform

  8th Wall

  8th Wall provides browser-based tools for creating and publishing interactive WebAR experiences without requiring users to install a dedicated application. Its components include a cloud development environment and computer-vision capabilities. Niantic Spatial announced a shutdown after seven years, with existing projects expected to remain accessible until early 2027 and much of the platform released as open source during 2026.

• 2025Meow Wolf Universe spatial expansion

  International

  Niantic Spatial and Meow Wolf announced an initiative to use augmented reality and visual positioning technology to extend the Meow Wolf Universe to locations around the world.

  Outcome. The announced objective was to make the experience available beyond Meow Wolf’s fixed physical venues.

  Source

• 2025

  Separate the licensed-games business from spatial technologyM&A

  Background

  Niantic sought to separate its major licensed mobile games from its augmented-reality, mapping, and spatial-computing activities.

  Action taken

  It agreed to sell the licensed-games division to Scopely for $3.5 billion. After completion, the retained spatial business was established as Niantic Spatial, while Ingress and Peridot remained with the new company.

  Aftermath

  The transaction created a dedicated company focused on physical AI and spatial computing while transferring Pokémon GO, Monster Hunter Now, Pikmin Bloom, and related applications to Scopely.

  Transaction value. $3.5 billion (Announced March 2025; completed May 29, 2025)

  Source

• 2025

  Capitalize Niantic Spatial as a standalone spatial-intelligence companyStrategy

  Background

  The spin-off required a separate capital base for Niantic’s geospatial, augmented-reality, and physical-AI activities.

  Action taken

  Niantic Spatial was initially capitalized with $250 million, including $200 million from Niantic’s balance sheet and a $50 million investment from Scopely.

  Aftermath

  The company began operations with Niantic’s original investors remaining shareholders and pursued enterprise, government, robotics, and immersive-media applications.

  Initial capitalization. $250 million (2025)

  Source

• 2025

  Announce the shutdown of 8th WallOther

  Background

  Niantic Spatial operated 8th Wall as a creator platform for browser-based augmented-reality development.

  Action taken

  The company announced that 8th Wall would be discontinued after seven years, while keeping existing projects available during a transition period and opening much of the platform’s code.

  Aftermath

  Services were scheduled to close in early 2027, with open-source releases intended to preserve access to much of the platform’s technology.

  Source

1. 1Niantic Spatialen.wikipedia.org