The End of an Era: Niantic Sells Pokémon Go Amidst Struggles
Ingress and Pokémon Go were exemplary when it came to AR games. However, Niantic, the developer of Pokémon Go, was unable to sustain this high level of success. Now it seems like the game is changing hands.
With Ingress and Pokémon Go in particular, Niantic highlighted the potential of games that incorporate reality for the first time. Gamers gathered in public places all over the world. These places had turned into virtual arenas where Pokémon could battle each other. Originally launched in 2016, the game had been downloaded more than a billion times by 2018.
However, the San Francisco-based game developer was unable to build on this success. Even the otherwise successful wizarding world of Harry Potter was unable to reach new heights among the Niantic games. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is widely considered a flop. The first rumors of impending bankruptcy have since made the rounds.
Niantic Games go to Saudi Arabia
The company is now realigning itself and saying goodbye to game development. According to information from Bloomberg, the gaming division is being sold to Scopely for 3.5 billion US dollars. The development studio has so far focused primarily on the development of mobile games. Among other things, it was responsible for Monopoly Go!
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Scopely, which is based in the USA, has also been part of the Savvy Games Group since 2023. This in turn belongs to the Public Investment Fund. The investment fund was founded by Saudi Arabia and aims to secure the billions generated in the oil business in the long term by investing into promising business sectors.
However, the sale to Savvy does not come as a complete surprise. Last summer, the two companies signed a letter of intent to help Niantic expand its reach in Egypt, the Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Fresh money for the Large Geospatial model?
Due to the continued lack of success of its gaming division, Niantic is now apparently pulling the ripcord. There were already signs last year that the development studio was looking for new areas of business. With the help of global environment scans generated as part of the games, the developers announced their intention to create a new type of artificial intelligence based on a so-called large geospatial model.
This could lead to a new understanding of geographical spaces. However, it remains to be seen how well the idea will work. So far, the developers have been able to draw on data sets from their players.
Do you think Pokémon Go players are going to benefit from this deal? Let us know in the comments below!
