Peridot, the franchise, is born

In May 2023, Niantic unveiled Peridot, a brand new franchise starting with a unique AR mobile game that enabled users to breed, nurture, and interact with magical creatures called ‘Dots.’ Peridot’s distinguishing feature is its groundbreaking breeding system. Using Niantic’s Perigenetics System, users can generate genetically unique creatures with their own virtual DNA, resulting in a possible 2.3 × 10²⁴ Dots – or an almost infinite amount.

Peridot is powered by Niantic’s AR SDK for Unity to deliver a game that is experienced fully in augmented reality. Thanks to years of computer vision and AI research, breakthroughs like real-time mapping, obstacle occlusion, and semantic segmentation mean Dots can interact with real-world surroundings in remarkably realistic ways and get smarter over time. It means players can feed, pet, and play with them (almost like real pets!), and participate in explorations and community events with other users.

Peridot is also notable among the gaming world for being one of the first augmented reality videogames to adopt generative AI capabilities – a groundbreaking step forward in immersive and original virtual experiences. These AI capabilities make it possible for Dots to display unique, authentic reactions to whatever environment they inhabit. Whether it’s another animal, human or inanimate object, Dots can respond in an organic and natural way that closely emulates the behavior of real pets. For example, if a Dot sees a flower, it may walk up to it and sniff it. Or, if a Dot is asked if it is hungry, it might sit back and patiently wait for food.

Peridot has quickly captured the hearts of users across the globe. The game boasts over 2 million downloads, and is a winner of a variety of industry awards including three awards at the 2024 Webby Awards, one award at the 2025 Webby Awards, and two awards at the 2024 Lovie Awards. Its social media presence is also considerable, with #Peridot garnering 250 million views on TikTok alone.

Peridot Beyond brings the magic of Peridot to outdoor AR glasses

In September 2024, Niantic announced the launch of Peridot Beyond – a groundbreaking new experience optimized specifically for Snap Spectacles, and the company’s first experience built for true outdoor AR glasses usage. This variation of Peridot offers users a hands-free adventure, allowing them to take the Peridot experience with them wherever they go.

Unlike the traditional Peridot experience, which requires users to interact with Dots through their mobile devices, Peridot Beyond completely breaks these confines. With Snap Spectacles advanced camera-based AR capabilities, users can engage with their Dots with unprecedented freedom. Players can cuddle their Dots, feed them snacks, play frisbee, and even enjoy interactive activities like dressing them up, all brought to life with unparalleled realism.

The lightweight design of Snap Spectacles make it effortless to bring Dots to any environment without relying on phones or cumbersome devices. Peridot Beyond also fully utilizes the on-device computing power of the Snap Spectacles, which quickly renders AR interactions for accurate and responsive gameplay. Peridot Beyond represents a monumental step forward in both mobile and AR gaming, offering a glimpse of what the future of AR experiences could look like with the true AR glasses of the future.

In March 2025, six months after Peridot Beyond’s initial release, a couple of major updates to the experience were released. Leveraging Spectacles Sync Kit, Peridot Beyond became a shared multiplayer experience with others, allowing users and their friends to go on outdoor walks together and pet, play, and interact with each other’s Dots. Peridot Beyond also integrated Spectacles Mobile Kit to connect the experience to the Peridot mobile game – meaning that as users make progress in Peridot Beyond, they’ll also be earning rewards in the mobile game.

Pioneers in gaming innovation

Niantic has firmly established itself as an AR/MR gaming industry leader, harnessing cutting-edge digital innovations to create deeply immersive experiences for players. In addition to the company’s pioneering use of mixed reality and AR, the Peridot mobile game is also one of the first to incorporate generative AI technology at scale.

By integrating Niantic’s AI algorithms, the Niantic SDK for Unity, and Meta’s Llama 2 large language model, Dots within the game can react naturally to their environments and objects. For example, if a Dot sees another animal in the wild, it may react aggressively, run away, or even approach it with curiosity. Dots can also respond to questions and commands; if a user asks their Dot if they’d like to go on a walk, they might spin around quickly as a confirmation–the Dot’s own personality shapes each response.

Niantic is also committed to “gaming for good”, which is evident in Peridot’s focus in using technology to create positive change in our communities. This included a number of initiatives in 2024 centered around pride awareness, sustainability, mental wellness, and physical rehabilitation, as outlined in greater detail in Peridot’s social impact recap.

More About Niantic

Niantic is a cutting-edge global software development company headquartered in San Francisco. It was established in 2010 by tech pioneer John Hanke, originally as an internal startup within Google, but became a fully fledged separate company and pioneering force in the gaming industry in 2015. A year later, the global smash hit Pokémon GO was launched.

Niantic’s mission is to develop immersive games and technologies that provide everybody around the world with a genuine way to connect, interact, and entertain using the environment around them. This user-centric approach is integral to everything Niantic does.

Its first game, Pokémon GO, released in 2016, was a massive leap forward in gaming, harnessing AR technology and the user’s own world around them to catch and evolve Pokémon, battle friends, and join community events through mobile devices. The game has achieved over 1 billion downloads and continues to average over 90 million active monthly users.

This success has led to the development of other innovative titles, including the AR mobile games Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter Now – spinoffs of iconic and highly successful Nintendo and Capcom video game titles.