Niantic, the San Francisco-based company behind Pokémon Go, is reportedly planning to divest its video games unit in a deal valued at $3.5 billion. The potential sale follows a string of underwhelming game releases, raising concerns among investors and industry experts about the company’s future direction, officials confirm the report.
Bloomberg reports on the suggestion, stating that “several people familiar with the discussions” have confirmed it. The article states that an agreement may be revealed in the next weeks, but there is no assurance that it will be finished.
The firm, who is based in San Francisco, got its start in 2010 as an internal Google startup called Niantic Labs. In 2015, though, once Google reorganized into Alphabet, Inc., it went independent.
The augmented reality game market for mobile devices was Niantic’s bread and butter. Following the success of their first game, Ingress, they modified the location-based technology to make Pokémon Go, which was among the most lucrative games of the past decade.
Over 500 million copies of Pokémon Go had been downloaded by the end of 2016, the year of the game’s initial release. The game made more than $6 billion by 2020.
Nevertheless, Niantic failed to achieve a same level of popularity after Pokémon Go, even while utilizing other significant intellectual properties, WCCFTECH reports.
Although it debuted in 2019, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite never truly caught on and was taken offline in less than three years. NBA All-World lasted even less time, from January to June of 2023, to a scant few months. Not many highly anticipated games saw the light of day; one such example is MARVEL World of Heroes.
Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter NOW were two more that came out but failed to catch on with players. For instance, over the first 2.5 years of its active service, the second game only managed to earn $44 million.
Scopely runs popular mobile games like WWE Champions, Star Trek Fleet Command, Marvel Strike Force, and Monopoly Go!, among others, which is likely why Niantic is interested in selling off its video games unit to them.
In 2023, the Savvy Games Group—wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia—paid $4.9 billion to buy Scopely.
Luis Gochoco is a seasoned managing editor and writer with over a decade of experience covering politics, technology, gaming, and entertainment news. With a keen eye for breaking stories and in-depth analysis, he has established himself as a trusted voice in digital journalism. Luis is one of the key forces behind the success of GameNGuide, contributing to 12 million views through engaging and high-traffic content. He also played a pivotal role in generating 8 million views on International Business Times, shaping the platform’s technology and gaming coverage.
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