Cell gaming agency Scopely is paying $3.5 billion to accumulate the online game enterprise of Niantic, together with marquee asset Pokémon GO.
The deal additionally brings titles like Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter Now into Scopely’s portfolio, together with different apps and dwell experiences
Niantic’s groups will proceed to be managed by their longtime recreation studio leaders Kei Kawai and Ed Wu.
Scopely is understood for cell video games like Monopoly Go, Stumble Guys, Star Trek TM Fleet Command and Marvel Strike Power.
Pokémon GO, first launched in 2016, stays a world phenomenon. It attracted greater than 100 million gamers in 2024 and has remained a prime 10 cell title yearly since its launch. It ushered within the idea of augmented actuality, capitalizing on booming development of smartphones.
The social facet of the sport is a key a part of its attraction, with hundreds of thousands of gamers additionally attending associated festivals and occasions all over the world. In a weblog put up asserting the deal, Scopely stated extra folks attended Pokémon GO Fest final yr than Coachella, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Electrical Daisy Carnival, and Tomorrowland mixed.
The sport’s world Google search quantity previously seven days was almost eight occasions higher than the No. 1 film on Netflix, almost 10 occasions higher than the No. 1 track on Spotify, and topped searches for soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Scopely has all the time been centered on cultivating significant communities via a shared love of play,
and the Niantic video games group is without doubt one of the greatest on the earth at this endeavor. We’re extraordinarily
impressed by what the group has constructed during the last decade, delivering modern experiences that captivate
an enormous, enduring world viewers and get folks out in the true world. We stay up for additional
accelerating the group’s creativity via our partnership,” stated Tim O’Brien, Chief Income Officer
and board member of Scopely.