Niantic Labs has announced the sale of its gaming division to the Saudi company Scopely for $3.5 billion. This decision comes as a result of Niantic's inability to replicate the success of Pokémon Go in its other augmented reality (AR) projects. According to the recently signed agreement, Scopely will acquire the rights to Niantic's mobile games, including Pokémon Go, Monster Hunter Now, and Pikmin Bloom.

The deal must be approved by regulatory authorities and meet a number of conditions to be finalized. If the agreement is approved, Scopely will also take over Niantic's companion social apps for Pokémon Go—Campfire and Wayfarer. The company claims it will acquire "the entire team of talented Niantic developers and their leading gaming projects". However, games such as Peridot and Ingress AR, as well as the mapping application Wayfarer, will remain under the management of Niantic Spatial.

Scopely / Niantic GamesImage: reddit.com

Pokémon Go, which attracted over 500 million players in its first year after release, faced a decline in popularity in 2020 due to global lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This forced Niantic to cancel several projects and lay off more than 310 employees between 2022 and 2023 to address "current market challenges".

This announcement marks Saudi Arabia's latest step in strengthening its position in the gaming industry. The country is actively using its Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) to acquire shares in companies such as Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, and EA. In 2021, PIF also facilitated the creation of the esports and gaming company Savvy Games Group, which later acquired Scopely, known for the game Monopoly Go!, for $4.9 billion in 2023.

This announcement appears to be related to the "mega-deal" of 2025, which Scopely's Revenue Director Tim O'Brien previously mentioned. During a Q&A session, he stated that the deal would involve "a major global franchise expected to generate at least a billion dollars in revenue". Although Niantic Labs does not disclose its financial performance, Scopely noted in its statement that Niantic's gaming business generated $1 billion in revenue last year. Meanwhile, Pokémon Go has reportedly earned $7.9 billion since its launch in 2016.

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