'Pokemon Go' (Image: Pokemon)
The hit mobile game Pokémon Go has been sold to the Saudi Arabian government for an astounding $3.5 billion.
A few weeks ago, Scopely, a mobile game developer owned by the Saudi royal investment fund, offered to purchase Pokémon Go from Niantic Labs. Since then an agreement has been made and Pokémon Go was sold to Scopely for the $3.5 billion price tag they originally offered. As part of this deal, Niantic Labs as a business is now owned by Scopely also. Niantic Labs had worked with the Saudi based developer previously and has decided that moving forward with it would benefit all parties, including the players.
Niantic Labs’s CEO, John Hanke, expressed his satisfaction with this deal during a recent press release. “Niantic games have always been a bridge to connect people and inspire exploration, and I am confident they will continue to do both as part of Scopely,” Hanke says. “I firmly believe that partnership is great for our players and is the best way to ensure that our games have the long-term support and investment needed to be ‘forever games’ that will endure for future generations.”
Scopely was bought by Saudi Arabia’s federally funded investment group, Savvy Games, back in 2023 for $4.9 billion and has had its fair share of successful titles. Most notably, it is responsible for Monopoly Go!, Star Trek Fleet Command and Stumble Guys. All of these titles have amassed some popularity in their own right, so Pokémon Go fans shouldn’t worry too much about the game’s future under Scopely.
The biggest reason for Niantic Labs’s decision to sell Pokémon Go and the business itself is because it has had very little luck producing a good game since the Pokémon Go craze in 2016. Niantic Labs has produced decent titles like Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom in recent years, but the majority of their projects since Pokémon Go have fallen flat. In fact, one of its games, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was shut down within only three years.
Perhaps no other project from Niantic Labs even now after being bought by Scopely will be as impactful as Pokémon Go, but that is a tall order considering millions of people are still active on the app every week. If anything, it is possible that under Scopely, Niantic Labs will have another success story in the future.
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