Niantic acquires social mechanics startup Evertoon

Niantic, the company behind the popular mobile game Pokémon Go has acquired a startup called Evertoon, which is exploring ways to add “social mechanics to digital products.”

“The Niantic family is growing, and we couldn’t be more pleased to welcome a great group of people who will help evolve, challenge and grow our company in new ways. Today I am excited to announce that we have acquired the Evertoon team, who bring with them a wealth of talent and experience in mobile products, tools for creativity, and community building," Niantic CEO John Hanke said in a blog post.

Evertoon has been live for 18 months, and during that time, people have used Evertoon to make animated fan fiction, celebrity satire, and music videos, the company said in the announcement. The startup will add a "social platform" to Niantic's games, including Pokémon Go, Ingress and "future titles." The current Evertoon app will go offline and remove access to community features as of November 30.

However, users with version 3.0 of app installed on their phone will still be able to make animated movies. If you want to save your previously created videos, you’ll need to download them to your device, the company says.