Seismic Games

Seismic Games was a Los Angeles game developer working across social games, mobile role-playing games, virtual reality and location-based augmented reality. Founded in 2011, the studio initially focused on character-led, narrative-driven social experiences before expanding into licensed entertainment properties and immersive interactive projects. Its work ranged from Facebook games to mobile releases, headset-based experiences and interactive theme park attractions.

The studio emerged publicly in January 2012 and released CelebrityMe on Facebook that year. Its subsequent development work included Marvel Strike Force, co-developed with FoxNext Games / Aftershock. The project formed part of Seismic’s expansion into free-to-play mobile games built around established entertainment franchises.

For virtual reality, Seismic partnered with Alcon Media Group and Google on Blade Runner: Revelations, released in 2018 for Google Daydream and Lenovo Mirage Solo. The experience supported six-degrees-of-freedom tracking, bringing the studio’s game development capabilities into an immersive adaptation of the film franchise. Seismic also contributed gameplay and engineering expertise to Disney Imagineering’s Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Development within Niantic

Niantic acquired Seismic Games in July 2018 and integrated the team as its Los Angeles development studio, known as Niantic Los Angeles or Niantic LA. The studio worked on expanding Niantic’s Real World Platform and developing geolocation-based AR games, extending its earlier mobile and immersive development work into location-based play.

Projects during this period included NBA All-World, which launched in January 2023, and the unreleased Transformers: Heavy Metal and Marvel World of Heroes. Transformers: Heavy Metal was co-developed with Very Very Spaceship and cancelled in 2022.

Niantic announced the closure of its Los Angeles studio on June 29, 2023, alongside the cancellation of Marvel World of Heroes and the sunsetting of NBA All-World. Following the closure, Seismic co-founder Eric “Giz” Gewirtz regrouped members of the core development team to establish Redux Games and return to independent development.