Pokemon GO creator, Niantic, envisions a "real-world metaverse" as it releases an AR Developer Kit

Niantic, the famed developer of Pokemon GO, has revealed its vision for the future of the so-called “Metaverse”. Unlike Mark Zuckerberg’s plan for a future where everybody is strapped into the metaverse with a VR headset, Niantic imagines a more real, physical alternative it dubs the “real metaverse”. To that end, Niantic has released Lightship, an Augmented Reality Developer Kit (ARDK) for people who want to develop AR games.

Niantic’s CEO John Hanke explained that the company wants to see a world where virtual reality brings people together in the physical world, as games like Pokemon GO have done. Lightship will allow developers to use the core components of these games to build their projects. Any developer that has experience building games in Unity can use Niantic’s ARDK to build games for iOS and Android in 2D/3D or VR. Lightship is available for free on the Lightship website.

The company has also launched the Niantic Ventures Fund worth US$20 million to help fund companies that are developing projects in line with Niantic’s vision.

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