A Saudi giant bought Pokemon Go

Niantic Labs, a San Francisco company known for the worldwide success of “Pokémon GO”, announced the sale of its division dedicated to Video Games at Scopelly, a developer of Saudi -guide mobile applications, for 3.5 billion dollars.

This decision marks a strategic change for American big tech which intends to focus on geospace technology and artificial intelligence through the development of a new entity called Niantic Spatial. In addition to “Pokémon Go”, the agreement includes other successful titles such as “Pikmin Bloom” and “Monster Hunter Now”, together with the Companion apps “Campfire” and “Wayfarer”.

The uniqueness of Pokemon Go

Launched in 2016, the best known game of the Pokemon universe marked a change of pace regarding playful experiences based on augmented reality. And still today it continues to be one of the most profitable smartphones in the sector, with over 30 million monthly players and a turnover of more than 1 billion dollars. Scopely, acquired in 2023 by the Saudis of Savvy Games Group for 4.9 billion dollars, has already developed successful play realities such as ‘Monopoly Go!’ And aim, with this operation, to further expand its already vast number of active users. The goal is to reach the figure of 500 million players.

“We are extremely inspired by what Niantic’s team has built in the last decade, offering innovative experiences that capture a vast and lasting global public and bring people to the real world,” said Tim O’Brien, Chief Revenue Officer of Scopely. “Few games in the world have reached Pokémon Go’s scope and longevity, which reached over 100 million players only last year”.

The meaning of the sale

The acquisition is part of the Saudi Arabia strategy to become a global gaming hub. The country’s Public Investment Fund, according to what reported by the Financial Times, has in fact already allocated about 40 billion dollars to enhance the sector, including the hosting of important tournaments and the spread on its territory of new gaming companies, there is talk of 250 realities with the creation of 39,000 jobs by 2030 2027 to Riad.

The Niantician’s Furuto

The American company looks to space. Niantic Spatial, a new unit dedicated to geospace artificial intelligence, will develop advanced technologies for mapping, collection and data processing. John Hanke, founder and CEO of Niantic, confirmed that the goal will be to make the world more understandable for intelligent machines, from Smart Glass to robots. “We are building the models that will help the Ai to go beyond a screen and finally enter the real world”.

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