‘Pokémon Go’ Creator Niantic Allegedly Selling Gaming Division to Concentrate on AR and Mapping Technologies

Niantic, the well-known creator of Pokémon Go, appears to be in talks to sell its gaming division to Scopely, a company owned by Saudi Arabia. According to sources familiar with the discussions, Bloomberg reports that these negotiations could wrap up soon, with a potential price tag of $3.5 billion on the table.

The acquisition would not only include Pokémon Go but also other popular mobile titles under Niantic’s banner, such as Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom. Niantic tried to recreate the magic of Pokémon Go with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, though unfortunately, it didn’t capture the same success and was subsequently discontinued in 2022.

If this deal sees the light of day, Niantic, which is based in San Francisco, plans to pivot more towards its AR technology and geo-spatial mapping services. Back in May 2022, they launched the Lightship Visual Positioning System. This innovative system creates a comprehensive 3D map of our world, allowing AR devices to maintain a shared frame of reference even on a large scale.

Later in 2022, Niantic revealed a collaboration with Qualcomm to develop a reference AR headset, leveraging the Snapdragon AR2 platform. They referred to this project as an “outdoor AR headset.” While they haven’t produced any hardware just yet, last year Niantic announced a partnership with Snap, aiming to bring their AR pet simulator game, Peridot, to Snap’s next-gen Spectacles.

Further expanding their AR capabilities, a few months afterwards, Niantic launched Into The Scaniverse. This WebXR app, backed by Niantic Studio, allows users to capture real-world locations in stunning 3D and experience them through devices like Meta Quest.

Once their gaming portfolio changes hands, Niantic seems set to dive headfirst into the AR realm, capitalizing on their VPS technology, Niantic Studio, and the Niantic Spatial Platform SDK.