Pokemon GO developer Niantic has acquired social animation developer Evertoon for an undisclosed sum.
Evertoon states that it will be helping to add a new social platform to Niantic's portfolio of games, including both Pokemon GO and Ingress. The team will also be bringing its engineering leadership experience to the company.
The Evertoon social platform will be shut down as part of the move. The platform will be put into "offline-mode" on November 30th 2017, and all community aspects will be removed. Users will still be able to access the app to make new content, so long as they have the latest update.
Innovative social mechanics
"Niniane and her team have been exploring innovative ways to add social mechanics to digital products," wrote Niantic CEO John Hanke on the company's blog.
"As our products and platform evolve, they will help build social systems that will benefit our entire community. We are also excited to have Niniane's engineering leadership and team management skills, as our team grows."
Niantic made headlines recently when it was reported that it had reservations about the similarities between Pokemon GO and Elyland's Draconius Go. The Ukranian developer has held firm, and claims that the reaction simply means Niantic sees it as a serious rival.