Niantic, developer of Pokémon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, has acquired the London-based games company Sensible Object.
Founded in 2014, Sensible Object is games developer than bridges the gap between physical and digital play to create uniquely differentiated gaming experiences. It is perhaps best known for its crowd-funded games, Beasts of Balance and Alexa voice-activated game line, Voice Originals. Sensible Object builds on the work of founder Alex Fleetwood and team with Hide&Seek, a studio designing outdoor social games and playful experiences.
Through the acquisition, Sensible Object’s team of artists and engineers join Niantic. Sensible Object will also offer support for its existing slate of titles during a transition period at the end of which the team will focus its efforts on building all new real-world AR experiences as the core of Niantic London.
In a company statement, Niantic said the acquisition “significantly advances our efforts in developing a wide range of gaming experiences that bring the physical and digital world closer together. The team’s deep roots in large-scale outdoor activations in particular is very complementary to the many… real world events we host around the world to engage with our loyal players.”