Niantic is most well-known for being the ones behind Pokemon GO. This year marks an entire decade that the mobile game has been available to play on iOS and Android devices. However, in recent years it has been a big up and down roller-coaster. Multiple questionable business decisions have upset many of the game’s veteran fans.
Unfortunately, this latest development may not help matters. Bloomberg is reporting that, according to “several people familiar with the discussions”, Niantic is in talks to sell its games unit to Scopely. If you don’t know what Scopely is, they are owned by Savvy Games Group, a Saudi-controlled company. At the moment, discussions are still ongoing. However, the price being discussed is around $3,500,000,000.
Any agreement, which is getting close to happening but isn’t set in stone yet, would mean that all of Niantic’s mobile titles, including Nintendo-related titles like Pokemon GO and Pikmin Bloom, would be involved. For now, a deal could be announced in the coming weeks. However, it is again worth emphasizing that a deal hasn’t been reached yet and things are subject to change.
selling their games to scopely is a big mistake. that company is too greedy when it comes to money, the only thing keeping them alive are the krakens and whales who still play their games.
As if niantic isn’t greedy
I rectify: the licenses belong to Nintendo, Niantic cannot sell them without their agreement (which would be extremely unlikely even lower than the one where Trump would win the Nobel Prize for Intelligence), moreover, if I’m mistaken, Nintendo owns 10% of Niantic’s shares so well…
Whose idea was it to name their company Scopely Inc. If Donald “Valentine’s Massacre” Trump weren’t in the headlines right now this would be the worst looking headline. “Oh who should be sell our location tracking games too? How ‘bout Scopely. That doesn’t sound like a company that would miss handle sensitive personal data.” I don’t know anything about Scopely Inc but it sounds like they are advertising their evil right to your face.
If Niantic sells its gaming division to Scopely for $3.5 billion, it could significantly impact the future of Pokémon Go. I hope the new ownership maintains the game’s integrity and doesn’t introduce aggressive monetization strategies that might alienate long-time players.
https://gamerant.com/pokemon-go-players-worried-scopely-acquisition-microtransactions/
Many longtime players already feel uncertain after recent decisions, so hopefully any deal keeps the spirit of exploration and community that made Pokémon GO so special in the first place.