"Pokémon Go Dev Calms Fans After $3.5B Sale to Monopoly Go Maker"

Niantic Inc. has completed the sale of Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, Monster Hunter Now, and their development teams to Scopely, the Saudi-owned studio behind Monopoly Go!, in a landmark $3.5 billion deal.

The transaction includes an additional $350 million cash distribution from Niantic, bringing the total value to approximately $3.85 billion for Niantic shareholders.

Scopely, owned by Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games, revealed that the acquired portfolio boasts over 30 million monthly active users and generated more than $1 billion in revenue during 2024. Pokémon Go remains the crown jewel, maintaining its position as a top-10 mobile game since its 2016 debut with over 100 million unique players this year.

Commitment to Long-Term Game Development

Niantic emphasized that all development teams will maintain their long-term roadmaps under new ownership. "This partnership ensures our games become 'forever games' that will endure for generations," the company stated in an official blog post.

Pokémon Go lead Ed Wu addressed community concerns directly: "Scopely shares our passion for this incredible community. Their private company structure allows us to prioritize long-term player experience over short-term gains."

Wu, who engineered Pokémon Go's original codebase, confirmed the entire development team will remain intact. "The same creators who built Raid Battles, Go Battle League, and live events continue steering the game's future."

Future of Pokémon Go

The transition promises significant ongoing investment in Pokémon Go's community features: "We're scaling live events for thousands of trainers and enhancing social connections while preserving our core real-world exploration focus," Wu explained.

Scopely's decentralized development approach particularly appealed to Niantic's leadership. "Their model empowers autonomous teams to pursue player-focused roadmaps while maintaining creative freedom," Wu noted.

The existing partnership with The Pokémon Company remains unchanged, ensuring continued collaboration on franchise integration and new content development.

Niantic's New Direction

Simultaneously, Niantic announced the spin-off of its geospatial AI division into Niantic Spatial Inc., with Scopely contributing $50 million toward the $250 million total funding. This new entity will continue operating Ingress Prime and Peridot while accelerating its augmented reality technology development.

"This restructuring enables both our gaming and tech divisions to pursue their full potential," Niantic stated regarding the parallel announcements.