Niantic

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Niantic, Inc. is an American software development company based in San Francisco. Niantic is best known for developing the augmented reality mobile games Ingress, Pokémon Go, and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The company was formed as Niantic Labs in 2010 as an internal startup within Google. The company became an independent entity in October 2015. It has offices in San Francisco, Bellevue, Los Angeles, Sunnyvale, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London.[1]

Support for Black Lives Matter Movement

Niantic tweet on their support to Black Lives Matter.

On June 3, 2020, Niantic tweeted out its support of the Black Lives Matter movement and the Black community. On the same day, CEO John Hanke published a blog post outlining the company’s plans for action. Off the bat, Niantic offers personal assistance to those who need it within the company, even for those who feel like they “can’t stay in your place of residence.”

After that, Hanke discusses how to take the company’s next step after its commitment to helping players explore the world, get into shape, and make friends through its games. Niantic will fund projects by black creators and help to promote them in order to reach a mass audience. The goal is to increase exposure of stories and points of view that don’t often get heard.[2]

Improving the workspace

In its plan to improve the workplace, Niantic indicates its need to support its Black and underrepresented minority employees. It also calls upon its non-Black employees to help combat systemic racism and social injustice in the industry.

The first order of action is to develop Diversity and Inclusion training with a focus on allyship. Hanke states it is the responsibility of their non-Black employees to educate themselves and each other. Next, Niantic plans to up its commitment to Treehouse, whose mission is to diversify the tech industry. Additionally, it will hire five UX/ Designers and five QA analysts for apprenticeships. Afterward, it plans to hire 80-100% of them. Other calls to action include expanding its partnership with Gameheads, a nonprofit that teaches game development to children. Niantic plans to provide $25,000 in scholarships and more.[3]

Donations

  • Donating Niantic proceeds from Pokémon GO Fest 2020 ticket sales, committing a minimum of $5 million. Half of the proceeds donated will be used to fund new projects from Black gaming and AR creators that can live on the Niantic platform, with the ultimate goal of increasing content that represents a more diverse view on the world. The other half will go to US nonprofit organizations that are helping local communities rebuild.
  • Donating $100,000 to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute and doing an employee match of up to $50,000. Black trans people continue to be killed at higher rates than Black cis people and non-Black LGBTQ+ people. In honor of the Black Lives Matter movement and of Pride Month, the Diversity and Inclusion team and the executive leadership team believe this donation is the right thing to do to support those who are most vulnerable to police brutality and other systems of oppression.[4]

Encouraging engagement companywide

In addition to all the donations and efforts on Niantic's part, CEO John Hanke has also urged everyone within the company to take part as well. Between matching donations and providing employee training on diversity and inclusion, Niantic has taken concrete steps to encourage its employees; however, there are also numerous opportunities where employees with the drive and passion can go above and beyond.

Employees previously had four days specifically for attending Niantic events. Now, employees will have five days and those days are being changed to Flex Days which can be used to volunteer. The Diversity and Inclusion Council will be providing opportunities to any employees looking to get involved in this volunteer work.[5]

The most important message to come from Niantic on diversity is that all of these initiatives will involve years of work. The senior executives of Niantic recognize the hard work ahead and committed to finding even more opportunities to be a force for good in the world. They intend to deepen their commitment along the way, and be held accountable, not only to each other, but to the communities that have made their company so successful.[5]

References

  1. Niantic (company). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  2. Ashtear, Dominick (2020), Niantic takes massive action against racial injustice, pledges support, money. Nintendo Enthusiast. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  3. Soba, Carly (2020). Niantic supports #BlackLivesMatter with a plan of action. Daily Esports. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  4. Taking action. Niantic. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Holly, Casian (2020). Niantic's push for diversity. iMore. Retrieved January 18, 2021.