The Silicon Valley ‘genius’ behind Pokemon Go

HE’S made heaps of cash and even been pegged as the next Steve Jobs. If you don’t know him, you definitely know his creations.

Meet John Hanke, the man behind Pokemon Go.

SILICON valley is full of bright minds, geniuses and people known for their creativity and, in some cases, extraordinary wealth.

You may not have heard of its latest star, but there’s no doubt you’ve heard of his latest creation: Pokemon Go.

John Hanke is the founder of Niantic Labs, the company that produced the smartphone-based augmented reality game which has whipped the world into nostalgia-fuelled frenzy.

If you’ve been living under a rock, Pokemon Go is an app that requires users to visit real world locations to catch and battle Pokemon creatures via their smartphones.

The game’s success is arguably the story of the year so far and has enveloped all parts of society. Police have had to warn players about their behaviour while running around town, a local Sydney council has had to fight to have one of its parks excluded from the game and businesses have sought to cash in on the craze.

But it likely wouldn’t have happened without Hanke.

British investor David Jones (nothing to do with the retail store) stands to make millions after investing in the minds behind Pokemon Go.

Like he told the UK’s Telegraph, the reason for backing Niantic Labs was simple: “John Hanke is an absolute genius”.

The same article went on to suggest that Hanke could soon be considered the next Steve Jobs — the highest of all the Silicon Valley demigods.

The 49-year-old Berkeley graduate is well known in the tech industry, but Hanke keeps a relatively low public profile and keeps his wife and three young children out of the spotlight.

However his highly decorated career has afforded him great status in Silicon Valley and shows that Pokemon Go is a game nearly 20 years in the making.

The hugely popular game relies on a virtual map of the world which makes a great deal of sense once you know that Hanke once headed up the division responsible for Google Maps.

In 2001 he founded Keyhole which was a pioneering company specialising in geospatial data visualisation applications. The company was the first to create online 3D aerial maps anchored with GPS.

Google acquired the company in 2004 for $US35 million and Hanke went to work at the search engine giant, going on to create Google Maps and Google Street View.

... And a cooler kind of version.

Google maps.

Hanke initially founded Niantic while working at Google but in 2015 when Google was reorganising itself to create its new parent company Alphabet, Niantic looked as if it would be absorbed into the company’s Android division or simply disbanded.

However Hanke convinced the company to allow him to spin it off into an independent entity, and he eventually did so with a healthy investment from Nintendo, Pokémon Co and Google.

Google owns 30 per cent of Niantic Labs and is set to make a nice little return given the fact that one Macquarie Group analyst claims the game’s annual revenue might reach $6.6 billion.

Along with Google, Pokemon Co. which owns the licensing rights to Pokemon stands to make a killing, and to a lesser extent, Nintendo which owns a small share of Niantic.

Of course, the man at the centre of it won’t do too badly either.

But more than anything it’s another feather in the cap for the business graduate who 20 years earlier co-created the very first massively multiplayer online (MMO) game called Meridian 59.

“I always thought you could make an awesome game using all the geo data that we have,” Hanke is widely quoted as saying.

“I watched phones become more and more powerful and I thought the time would come that you could do a really awesome real-world adventure-based game.”

Turns out he was absolutely correct.

Augmented reality games are tipped to explode in the wake of Pokemon Go’s popularity. Some have predicted it will become a bigger commercial success than the highly touted virtual reality industry.

If so, Hanke could be a big part of the reason why.

As British investor David Jones put it: John Hanke is “a visionary in that he understands not just where the future is going but creates the things that will change that future.”

Former Google Earth & Maps Director John Hanke (right) in 2007. Picture: AP Photo/Kathy Willens