The company, via Protocol, announced Friday that Niantic, a Pokmon Go developer, is closing down its augmented reality gaming platform Catan: World Explorers. World Explorers, an AR version of the board game Catan that was announced in 2019, was the latest attempt by the company to recreate the magic and excitement of Pokmon Go. But it's all coming to an abrupt end.
After one year of early access, Niantic has announced that the game will no longer be available after November 18th. The company also said it would remove real-money purchases and take the app down from the App Shop. However, it promised to increase in-game bonuses during the remaining weeks.
It is possible that something other than Pokmon could catch on.
Although it is not clear exactly what caused the shutdown, the developers claim that adapting Catan's trading, harvesting and building skills to a real-life (or AR layered on top) game board was a difficult task. The developers say that we went a bit too complicated and too far from the original Catan games.
Catan: World Explorers joins Minecraft Earth to add another AR game. Microsoft's vision for Minecraft Earth was similar to its predecessor, but it came to an abrupt halt on June 30th. We found its other entries disappointing, so it is a shame that Niantics failed to make a big swing. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was more like a skin for Pokmon Go at launch than an evolution. Although Pokmon is a great AR gaming hit, until Niantic or another company makes it work, Pikachu will be the king.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Minecraft Earth was developed by Niantic. It was actually created by Mojang Studios, a Microsoft subsidiary. We are sorry for the error.
