Niantic In Talk To Sell Business, Including Pokémon GO, To Saudi Arabia Company

[RAMROD 117,092]

Pokémon Go developer Niantic is reportedly in talks to sell its video game division to Saudi-owned Scopely for $3.5 billion.

As first reported by Bloomberg, the sale would likely include Pokémon Go, the hit augmented-reality mobile game that sends players out into the real world to collect Pokémon.

A source talking to Bloomberg under the promise of anonymity said that while the deal was by no means complete, if approved, it could be confirmed in a matter of weeks.

Neither Niantic, Scopely, nor its owner Savvy Games Group were prepared to comment publicly on the reported acquisition.

Savvy Games Group acquired Scopely back in April 2023 in a deal worth $4.9 billion that came after the Saudi Arabia government said it wanted to buy "a leading games publisher."Scopely publishes a range of hit mobile titles, most notably The Walking Dead: Road to Survival, Stumble Guys, Marvel Strike Force, and Monopoly Go.

Savvy Gaming Group also purchased two of the world's biggest esports companies, ESL and FACEIT, for a total of $1.5 billion in 2022.
 

https://www.ign.com/articles/pokmon-go-developer-niantic-reportedly-in-talks-to-sell-video-game-business-to-saudi-owned-company-behind-stumble-guys

[DopeEnigma 1,782]

It’ll be $5 to catch a Pokémon if this happens 

[Addison Rae 18,095]

Pokemon Mashallah and Pokemon Inshallah next 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, Addison Rae said:

Pokemon Mashallah and Pokemon Inshallah next 

third version is pokemon Starfullah

 

[Daenerys 6,274]

2 hours ago, DopeEnigma said:

It’ll be $5 to catch a Pokémon if this happens 

It’s already $7 to catch a Pokémon with its current developers. Ever since 2021 they’ve: increased the cost of in-game items, limited how players engage with the game, stunted new-gen releases by putting new and future Pokémon releases under a paywall- oh and if it’s a SPECIAL event they increase the cost of a ticket to participate to $15. Literally ANY other game company will take the brand and the community would be extremely grateful. 

[DopeEnigma 1,782]

4 hours ago, Daenerys said:

It’s already $7 to catch a Pokémon with its current developers. Ever since 2021 they’ve: increased the cost of in-game items, limited how players engage with the game, stunted new-gen releases by putting new and future Pokémon releases under a paywall- oh and if it’s a SPECIAL event they increase the cost of a ticket to participate to $15. Literally ANY other game company will take the brand and the community would be extremely grateful. 

Bit naive to think the company buying it doesn’t realise Hear Me Niantic did nothing and people will still pay even more for exclusives, tickets, things that should be free etc. They aren’t likely to buy it to make it cheap, they’ll make it even worse as they know they can make a major profit off it. 

[Logan 20,827]

As a long-time player, Pokemon Go has been struggling hard for the past year or two, hope this isn't the nail in the coffin. From what I've been reading they (Scopely) also own Monopolgy Go, which is full of ads & microtransactions. 

[Daenerys 6,274]

44 minutes ago, DopeEnigma said:

Bit naive to think the company buying it doesn’t realise Hear Me Niantic did nothing and people will still pay even more for exclusives, tickets, things that should be free etc. They aren’t likely to buy it to make it cheap, they’ll make it even worse as they know they can make a major profit off it. 

I’m trying my best not to be naive about this, and I’m speaking out of ignorance because I know nothing about how Scopely operates their games. I was just speaking from personal experience as a passionate Pokemon go player who has done and continues to do Community Day, Go Tour, Go Fest (both in-person and globally) and MANY other events. 

based on player feedback from the hundreds of people I gather with for these events there is extreme frustration at how the game is being handled. I’ll be attending the Go Tour event in LA this weekend - and will gladly take a quantitative approach and secure some data to prove this point. So based on my own lived experience engaging with this specific platform- it’s best to hand the reigns off to someone else. BUT. If what you are saying is true, then maybe this wouldn’t be the best deal to make. I’ll have to look more into the business to see how they truly operate. 
 

edit: I did quick research into this business and yes. I agree it’d be terrible for them to buy off Niantic games. Nia tic is bad, I’ll grant that, but it’d be bad to sell off to this company. If they do, then it’d be best for TCP and Gamefreak to take back their IP. 

[DopeEnigma 1,782]

3 hours ago, Daenerys said:

I’m trying my best not to be naive about this, and I’m speaking out of ignorance because I know nothing about how Scopely operates their games. I was just speaking from personal experience as a passionate Pokemon go player who has done and continues to do Community Day, Go Tour, Go Fest (both in-person and globally) and MANY other events. 

based on player feedback from the hundreds of people I gather with for these events there is extreme frustration at how the game is being handled. I’ll be attending the Go Tour event in LA this weekend - and will gladly take a quantitative approach and secure some data to prove this point. So based on my own lived experience engaging with this specific platform- it’s best to hand the reigns off to someone else. BUT. If what you are saying is true, then maybe this wouldn’t be the best deal to make. I’ll have to look more into the business to see how they truly operate. 
 

edit: I did quick research into this business and yes. I agree it’d be terrible for them to buy off Niantic games. Nia tic is bad, I’ll grant that, but it’d be bad to sell off to this company. If they do, then it’d be best for TCP and Gamefreak to take back their IP. 

I agree, I really think they should bring it in-house too, it’d be so much better! I got back into it during COVID but stopped in 2022 now I’m back. Enjoying it but wish things weren’t so pricey to actually enjoy it. I think that’s what was so good during COVID, it made the game playable and fun, still want to get to level 50 😅