Niantic Sells Gaming Division to Focus on Geospatial AI and AR Technology

Recently, Niantic, the company famed for its mega-hit mobile game Pokémon Go launched back in 2016, has made a significant stride by selling its gaming division to Scopely for a staggering $3.85 billion. This move, aligning with previous reports from Bloomberg, will allow Niantic to shift its focus primarily towards enhancing its capabilities in AI-powered geospatial technology and AR tech.

Under this deal, the company, now controlled by Saudi Arabia, will take the reins of some of Niantic’s most beloved titles—Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now. The original teams behind the creation and maintenance of these games are also transitioning over to Scopely, as both companies confirmed in a joint statement.

This massive sale has also triggered Niantic to establish a new company, Niantic Spatial. This entity will concentrate on perfecting geospatial AI technology, merging location data with sophisticated machine learning and AI systems.

According to Niantic, the mission for Niantic Spatial is to construct “spatial intelligence,” a tool to better comprehend, navigate, and interact with the world around us. The ambition is to leverage this tech for enterprise applications, introducing a unique blend of geospatial AI and AR into various industries.

John Hanke will head this new venture, benefitting from a financial injection of $250 million, including $200 million from Niantic and an additional $50 million from Scopely.

Niantic Spatial is set to develop AI solutions targeting logistics, construction, and entertainment sectors while continuing to develop its existing technologies, Scaniverse and the Visual Positioning System (VPS).

Scaniverse, a 3D scanning tool that Niantic acquired from Toolbox AI in 2021, employs Gaussian splatting to create detailed digital replicas of real-world objects and environments. To highlight its capabilities, the company recently launched Into the Scaniverse (2025) for Quest, allowing users to capture surroundings with their phones and later view them through a headset.

Furthermore, Niantic’s VPS, launched in 2022, is a geospatial AI system that allows for ultra-precise location tracking and AR navigation in real-world settings, accurate to a centimeter level. Incorporated into several location-based games like Pokémon GO, Ingress, and Peridot, this system enhances interactive experiences with remarkable precision.

Amidst these changes, there’s little update on Niantic’s ventures into AR hardware. Back in late 2022, they’d announced a partnership with Qualcomm to develop a reference AR headset designed around the Snapdragon AR2 platform.

Since that announcement, details remain sparse on the AR headset’s development aimed at influencing the production of outdoor-ready AR hardware.

This acquisition marks a pivot for Niantic from its gaming roots to focusing on geospatial AI and enterprise AR development. Instead of solely creating games, Niantic is intensifying efforts on its VPS, 3D mapping, and AI-enabled AR platforms, paving the way for next-gen augmented reality experiences.