The end of an era? Niantic is reportedly selling Pokémon Go and its entire gaming division!
In 2016, Pokémon Go was more than just a game—it was a global phenomenon. With over 500 million downloads in its first year, it turned parks, streets, and cities into real-world playgrounds. Players gathered in massive crowds, news stations ran stories on its impact, and for a moment, it felt like everyone was trying to catch ‘em all. Nearly a decade later, the game is still going strong, but big changes could be on the horizon. What’s next for one of the most successful mobile games of all time? Here’s everything you need to know about the latest Pokémon news.
A Mega-Deal for Saudi Arabia?
According to Bloomberg, Niantic is close to selling its entire gaming division to Scopely for a jaw-dropping $3.5 billion. This would place the AR phenomenon Pokémon Go under the umbrella of Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group. Maybe in the future, you can catch camels with a Poké Ball.
This deal could become a financial milestone for Niantic and might represent a significant shift in the future of augmented reality games. While their mobile titles haven't yet passed into new hands, this could mark the beginning of a new chapter as Niantic shifts focus to new ventures.
From AR Dreams to Mapping Reality
Since its release in 2016, Pokémon Go has made billions of dollars and captured millions of players worldwide. However, in recent years, Niantic has struggled to replicate that success. Games like Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom haven’t reached the same level of popularity, and Niantic’s AR ambitions have faced obstacles.
Selling its gaming division could allow Niantic to focus more on its geospatial data and mapping technology, an area it has been quietly working on for years. This pivot from mobile gaming to new, innovative uses of augmented reality and spatial intelligence could define the company’s future, shifting its role in the AR industry from game maker to tech innovator. Niantic is feeding an AI with billions of data they've captured over the years, basically mapping the entire world. That means when the T-800 finds you in your hideout in the year 2051, it's because you found that Rattata there back in 2016.
Could this new deal change the way we experience augmented reality in gaming forever? Tell us in the comments!