Pokemon Go is the reigning king of mainstream AR.
Pokemon Go is the reigning king of mainstream AR.
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The DeanBeat: How game developers can drive our platforms forward

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 4 min

Last night, Pokèmon Go developer Niantic announced that it was investing in a round of funding for DigiLens, a maker of holographic displays for augmented reality. It was rare for a game developer and publisher to invest in a tech startup, but it made sense because Niantic CEO John Hanke really believes its games will shine on AR devices.

We all know that games push technology forward. But Niantic’s move was an interesting development because it means that game developers can be the ones doing that pushing, sometimes more so than the incumbent companies that operate the platforms upon which games are played. In this case, a game developer became so successful that it could push its own agenda forward.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.