Niantic is now offering its AR tech to other developers

Dubbed as Lightship, it's said to be the "world's first and only scaled AR platform."

Niantic, the developer behind Pokémon Go and the recently released Pikmin Bloom, has announced that it will be sharing its AR tools with other creators. It has now fully launched its Lightship program, described as the "world's first and only scaled AR platform." The first Lightship dev kit, which includes features such as real-time mapping and shared AR sessions, is available right now and can be downloaded here.

The company also revealed that it's investing $20 million towards the future of AR technology. According to a statement from Niantic, these funds will contribute to "companies building applications that share our vision for the Real-World Metaverse."

"Transforming humanity's relationship with technology by merging the physical and virtual worlds will require the ideas and perspectives of as many people as possible," said John Hanke, Founder and CEO of Niantic. "That's why we're so excited to open the vault of technology that powers our own games, so developers, creators and brands globally can build inclusive experiences that push the boundaries of what's possible in AR."