Pokémon Go Being Bought by Saudi-owned Company
Pokémon Go, the gaming phenomenon of 2016, is going somewhere new: into the warm arms of new owners Saudi Arabia. Scopely, a California-based company that owns such popular mobile games as Monopoly Go and Marvel Strike Force, and which is owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund subsidiary Savvy Games Group, has reached a $3.5 billion deal to buy Niantic’s gaming division—which includes Pokémon Go. Scopely has said it will retain all staff from Niantic’s gaming division in the deal, which is expected be completed later in 2025.
Pokémon Go may not get the mainstream attention it briefly enjoyed in 2016, but it’s still massively popular. It’s easily the biggest game in Niantic’s portfolio, which maintains over 30 million monthly active players and continues to rake in over $1 billion a year in revenue, according to Scopely. In addition to Pokémon Go, Scopeley will be acquiring other Niantic games, including Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom, and the related apps Campfire and Wayfarer. Niantic’s games Ingress Prime and Peridot are not involved in the deal, and will be retained by a new company called Niantic Spatial.
If you’re a big fan of Pokémon Go or Monster Hunter Now, you might have good reason to be a little worried right now. Scopely is a big proponent of the kind of extreme monetization that has given mobile gaming a rep for exploiting its players. When rumors of Scopely acquiring Pokémon Go first started making the rounds earlier this year, some players started openly discussing a boycott of the game if that happened. You wouldn’t think a successful company would acquire a successful game with plans to disrupt its already profitable business plan, and there’s no indication that Scopely is considering that, but business history is replete with examples of new owners totally bungling a sure thing. For the sake of all the dedicated trainers in the world, let’s hope that doesn’t happen here.
Savvy Games Group was launched by the Saudi fund in 2022, and acquired Scopely for almost $5 billion a year later. Gaming has become a major part of Saudi Arabia’s economic plans, with the government committing to $38 billion in investments throughout this decade. Along with that investment comes steady criticism that the Saudi government is effectively trying to “games-wash” its checkered reputation on human rights issues, akin to the “sportswashing” accusations over its relationships with FIFA, WWE, and UFC, as well as the Investment Fund’s creation of its LIV Golf subsidiary. If you really wanted to make people forget about whatever bad stuff you’ve done, tossing on a Pikachu costume probably helps a lot.