Niantic Announces $3.5 Billion Sale Of Its Game Division To Scopely

Niantic Labs has officially confirmed the sale of its game division, marking the end of an era for one of mobile’s most iconic development studios. Formerly Google-owned Niantic Labs (it spun off in 2015) was a breakout mobile developer, thanks to games like Ingress and Pokémon GO. The studio has launched several games, both currently available and now shuttered. This is in addition to a handful of games that never ended up being released.

While games like Ingress (now called Ingress Prime) and Pokémon GO were both big successes, Niantic has struggled to re-capture the excitement of Pokémon GO, its most successful game. This has no doubt led to the difficult decision to sell off its games unit. However, that doesn’t mean Niantic’s games will all shut down. In fact, there’s a pretty good chance that most, if not all, of the games that Niantic currently offers on mobile will stay live for the foreseeable future.

As TechCrunch points out, Scopely has stated that Niantic’s games and events will “stay true to their spirit.” So it sounds like Scopely plans to keep the games going and continue the events that go alongside them. That could change. But for now, it seems nothing is on the chopping block.

Niantic confirms the sale of its game decision to Scopely after weeks of rumors

This wasn’t really a complete surprise, as it was rumored back in February that Niantic may have been shopping around its game division in hopes of a buyout. The studio has now confirmed the sale. As per the rumor, it will be Saudi Group-backed Scopely. Which will be buying up its properties to the tune of $3.5 billion dollars.

The agreement will include most of Niantic’s current titles and mobile apps. This includes Pokémon GO, Wayfarer, Pikmin Bloom, Monster Hunter Now, and Campfire. Campfire is a social companion app for Niantic’s games that lets users easily find people to play with. The agreement also includes the entire Niantic Games team. Niantic will keep ownership and development rights of Ingress Prime and Peridot, however, with the development being handled by Niantic Spatial.

The acquisition will need regulatory approval

With an agreement now having been reached and an announcement officially made, all that’s left is to wait for the sale to go through. The deal will need regulatory approval, of course, and as of now, there’s no confirmation when things will be finalized. In a blog post, Scopely explains why it was interested in teaming up with Niantic. The company says that Niantic is a team of world-class mobile game developers.

“The Niantic team is a clear leader in mobile games,” Scopely said. The company continued by stating that what makes Niantic truly exceptional is its ability to cultivate game communities. Niantic’s game communities are often highly engaged with the games they play. Pokémon GO, most of all. So it’s easy to understand why Scopely was interested.