Pokémon Go Dev Reassures Players Post $3.5B Sale to Monopoly Go! Firm

Niantic Inc. has announced the sale of its flagship games, including Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now, along with their development teams, to Scopely, a company owned by the Saudi investment firm Savvy Games, for a staggering $3.5 billion. This deal also includes an additional $350 million in cash distributed to Niantic equity holders, bringing the total value to approximately $3.85 billion.

In a press release, Scopely highlighted the impressive statistics of Niantic's games business, boasting over 30 million monthly active users (MAUs), more than 20 million weekly active users, and generating over $1 billion in revenue in 2024. Pokémon Go, the crown jewel of Niantic's portfolio, continues to dominate as a top 10 mobile game, with over 100 million unique players in 2024, nearly a decade after its launch.

Niantic emphasized the long-term vision for its games, stating that the development teams have "exciting long-term roadmaps" that will continue under Scopely's umbrella. In a blog post, Niantic reassured fans that the games, apps, services, and events will continue to receive investment and be developed by the same passionate teams that have been behind these experiences from the start.

Pokémon Go's chief, Ed Wu, addressed community concerns in a separate blog post, expressing his belief that the partnership with Scopely will be beneficial for the game's future. Wu, an original engineer on the Pokémon Go codebase, highlighted Scopely's admiration for the community and the team, and his confidence in the game's continued flourishing under Scopely's mission to inspire people to explore together.

Wu assured players that the entire Pokémon Go team will remain intact, continuing to develop and enhance the game with features like Raid Battles, Go Battle League, Routes, and live events like Pokémon Go Fest. He emphasized Scopely's approach of empowering game teams to pursue their inspired roadmaps, which aligns well with Niantic's goals.

Joining a broader organization focused on game-making, Wu believes that Pokémon Go can thrive with Scopely's long-term commitment and resources. He stressed the importance of maintaining the real-world community aspect of Pokémon Go, which will remain a guiding light in all future developments. Wu also confirmed that the partnership with The Pokémon Company will continue, ensuring the shared vision of discovering Pokémon in the real world remains intact.

While acknowledging that Pokémon Go will continue to evolve, Wu reassured fans that the core method of creating and enhancing the game will remain unchanged, aiming to make the experience even better for players.

In addition to the game sale, Niantic announced the spin-off of its geospatial AI business into a new company, Niantic Spatial Inc., with Scopely investing $50 million and Niantic contributing $200 million. Niantic Spatial will continue to operate other real-world AR games, Ingress Prime and Peridot, allowing for rapid acceleration and scaling of the business.