Niantic is apparently in talks to sell its game business to Scopely, according to a Bloomberg report.
Niantic is an American software development company, primarily known for its location-based mobile titles. It co-developed and operates Pokémon Go and Monster Hunter Now, both of which are highly popular games.
According to Bloomberg, Niantic is in negotiations to sell its games business to Scopely Inc., an American developer known for mobile titles like Monopoly Go! Scopely was acquired by the Saudi Arabia-based Savvy Games Group in 2023.
Niantic is reportedly considering selling its games business to Scopely for around $3.5 billion USD. Apparently, the sale of several mobile games, including Pokémon GO, is under discussion. At the time of writing, it is unclear whether the negotiations will result in an agreement or not.
Although Pokémon Go was a massive global hit for Niantic, the small company has struggled to replicate its success- despite developing other location-based titles using established IPs like Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter Now. It laid off 85-90 employees in 2022 and 230 employees in 2023. At that time, it also shut down its LA studio, and discontinued NBA All-World and Marvel: World of Heroes, to make Pokémon Go its top priority (source: Polygon).
However, the Bloomberg report suggests that Niantic is thinking about selling its existing games business, including Pokémon Go. It is possible that Niantic plans to pivot from the highly competitive mobile AR games market into non-augmented reality games. If the business does end up being sold to Scopely, it will be interesting to see if The Pokémon Company’s licensed game Pokémon Go gets a smooth handover.
