Pokémon Go under new ownership as Scopely closes $3.5bn Niantic deal

Scopely has closed its $3.5 billion acquisition of Niantic’s games business, bringing an array of AR games under its control including Pokémon Go.

The deal was officially closed on May 29th, 2025, 11 weeks after the acquisition plan was publicly announced.

"We are proud to share that we closed the acquisition of Niantic’s game business on May 29th, 2025," Scopely stated.

"The deal brings category-leading games Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, Monster Hunter Now, and community-builder companion apps and services Campfire and Wayfarer to the Scopely portfolio.

"We look forward to welcoming over 400 of Niantic’s world-class game makers to our global team, where they will continue to serve their incredible community of players."

Gotta acquire ‘em all

Scopely teased its intention to land a "mega deal" in late 2024 and rumours of a Niantic portfolio acquisition began to circulate this February. The studios later confirmed the rumour on March 12th, 2025, with Scopely planning to acquire Niantic’s licenced games and companion apps.

Now that the deal has been completed, this adds Pokémon Go, Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom to Scopely’s portfolio and ultimately brings them under Saudi Arabian ownership - Savvy Games Group being Scopely’s parent company.

Naturally, Pokémon Go is the most lucrative game in the deal, having generated 95% of Niantic’s player spending across the App Store and Google Play this past decade.

Dev teams have also migrated with their associated games, continuing their operations under new ownership. Pokémon Go product director Michael Steranka previously assured players that obtrusive ads won’t be built into Niantic’s ex-flagship and that the new owner won’t sell location data.

For Niantic, meanwhile, this deal has meant keeping control of Ingress Prime and Peridot, and having the funds to spin off into Niantic Spatial - a geospatial AI business in which all original investors continue to be shareholders. Layoffs have been taking place as part of this restructure.

"Niantic games have always been a bridge to connect people and inspire exploration, and I am confident they will continue to do both as part of Scopely," Niantic founder and CEO John Hanke said when the acquisition was first announced.

"Scopely shares our focus on building and operating incredible live services, has exceptional experience working with the world's biggest and most beloved intellectual properties, and cares deeply about its player communities and game-making teams."