Pokémon Go’s Future Is in Saudi Arabia’s Hands as Savvy Group Looks to Acquire Niantic’s Gaming Unit

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Pokémon Go’s Future Is in Saudi Arabia’s Hands as Savvy Group Looks to Acquire Niantic’s Gaming Unit

Pokémon Go is the most successful augmented reality game since its launch in 2016, and it seems a big change is in the cards for the game. Niantic Inc., the game’s developer, is reportedly in advanced talks to sell its gaming division to Saudi-owned Scopely Inc. for a whopping $3.5 billion. The deal is not yet finalized so take it with a grain of salt. And maybe pray.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Niantic has been anything but perfect, but now it can get worse? | Image Credit: Niantic Inc.

If the acquisition goes through, Pokémon Go and other Niantic titles like Ingress and Monster Hunter Now will be under Scopely’s control. As you’d expect, the majority of the community is already preparing for the worst as the fate of the game might be changing hands.

Pokémon Go could be changing hands to a new owner

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

We’ve seen these moves before. | Image Credit: Scopely Inc.

Niantic was originally a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

subsidiary that became independent in 2015. At the time,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

probably didn’t think anything of it. But Niantic went on to strike gold with Pokémon Go in 2016 and the game has since been the most profitable augmented reality (AR) game ever. So why is it now being reported (via

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

) that the company’s gaming division could be sold to Saudia Arabia-backed Scopely Inc.?

Well, first of all, there’s the fact that replicating the success of Pokémon Go has been challenging. You see the biggest reason why it worked was because of how compatible a franchise like Pokémon is with the concept of a real-time, location-based augmented reality game. And it’s not to say that Niantic hasn’t tried to make similar games.

Bloomberg: Niantic Inc. is in talks to sell its video-game business to Saudi Arabia-controlled Scopely Inc. for about $3.5 billion. Deal could be announced in coming weeks.

Any agreement would involve Pokémon Go as well as other mobile games

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

— Wario64 (@Wario64)

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

The company has faced setbacks, including the shutdown of its Harry Potter: Wizards Unite game in 2022 and staff layoffs in 2023. With the AR market developing slower than anticipated, Niantic has been restructuring its business, making the ***** of its gaming division a strategic move to focus on its geospatial data projects.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

from discussion

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

from discussion

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

from discussion

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

from discussion

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Scopely Inc. is the company poised to take over Niantic’s gaming assets and is itself a major mobile game publisher that was acquired by Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group in 2023 for $4.9 billion. The initial responses from players and the community have been mostly negative. Players are criticizing Scopely’s monetary practices and of course, the Saudi involvement.

What is the future of gaming with big moves like this?

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

And what is the future of Pokémon Go? | Image Credit: Niantic Inc.

Over the last few years, Saudi Arabia has been expanding its footprint in the gaming industry using its Public Investment Fund (PIF) to acquire stakes in major gaming companies. The community hasn’t been quiet about it if you look at the backlash that several developers have faced for aligning with this agenda. The Esports World Cup is a great example of this. But we’re not here to talk controversies.

Savvy Games Group is a subsidiary of PIF that acquired Scopely in 2023 for $4.9 billion as part of this strategy. With Niantic’s potential *****, Saudi Arabia would gain control over Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, and other Niantic titles. It’s a really big move and one that we should expect considering Savvy CEO Brian Ward’s previous statement to

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

about having a “genre-leading” mobile title.

Another key factor in this deal is the involvement of The Pokémon Company. While Niantic developed Pokémon Go, the Pokémon franchise is co-owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures Inc. It’s unclear how much control The Pokémon Company would have over any changes Scopely might implement.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Pokémon #Gos #Future #Saudi #Arabias #Hands #Savvy #Group #Acquire #Niantics #Gaming #Unit

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up