Scopely announced in a press release that it has signed an agreement to acquire Niantic’s games business for $3.5 billion USD and it includes Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now.

Press Release - Scopely to acquire Niantic games business, which includes “Pokémon GO,” one of the most successful mobile games of all time

- Acquisition will welcome Niantic’s entire game development teams, beloved games “Pokémon GO,” “Pikmin Bloom,” and “Monster Hunter Now,” and companion apps and services “Campfire” and “Wayfarer” to Scopely’s diverse video game portfolio, highlighting the company’s ongoing commitment to community-driven, social experiences

- The Niantic games business delights over 30 million monthly active players (MAU) and drove more than $1 billion in revenue in 2024

- “Pokémon GO” continues to be a global sensation, ranking as a top 10 mobile game every year since its launch nearly a decade ago, with 100 million+ unique players in 2024

- Combined portfolio to create one of the largest global player communities in the world, with over half a billion players in 2024 alone

March 12, 2025 – Scopely, the #1 mobile games company in the U.S., announced today it has signed an agreement to acquire Niantic’s games business. The deal, valued at $3.5 billion, will bring Niantic’s entire team of exceptional gamemakers and category-leading games “Pokémon GO,” “Pikmin Bloom,” and “Monster Hunter Now” to Scopely’s portfolio, among other apps and live experiences. At Scopely, the Niantic game teams will continue to pursue their ambitious roadmaps, led by their long-time game studio leaders Kei Kawai and Ed Wu.

As one of the largest, fastest-growing companies in mobile games, Scopely is renowned for its highly social experiences that bring people together and make life better through play. The company’s always-evolving “digital playgrounds” – from “MONOPOLY GO!” to “Stumble Guys,” “Star TrekTM Fleet Command,” “MARVEL Strike Force,” and more – remain part of players’ lives for years on end. This acquisition signals Scopely’s ongoing commitment to and passion for play by further investing in beloved games with deeply engaged communities that span the world.

“Scopely has always been focused on cultivating meaningful communities through a shared love of play, and the Niantic games organization is one of the best in the world at this endeavor. We are extremely inspired by what the team has built over the last decade, delivering innovative experiences that captivate a vast, enduring global audience and get people out in the real world. We look forward to further accelerating the team’s creativity through our partnership,” said Tim O’Brien, Chief Revenue Officer and Board Member of Scopely. “Few games in the world have delivered the scale and longevity of ‘Pokémon GO’, which reached over 100 million players just last year. The experience also stands apart for its unique ability to foster in-person connections, with Pokémon GO live events attracting millions of attendees. After spending time with the Niantic team, it quickly became clear that this organization shares our inclination to create industry-leading outcomes and exceptional player experiences. We look forward to a bright future ahead.”

With this acquisition, the games, apps, and live experiences joining the Scopely portfolio include:
“Pokémon GO” - One of the most successful mobile games of all time, “Pokémon GO” – based on the globally popular Pokémon entertainment franchise – is a category-leading, evergreen game that continues to endure today.

- With over 20M weekly active players, the game has remained a top 10 mobile title every year since its launch in 2016. “Pokémon GO” players, also known as Trainers, have explored more than 30 billion miles together.

- The beloved experience reaches players in over 190 countries and regions, uniting a massive, deeply engaged fan community that averages 40 minutes in daily playtime. Approximately half of all players return to the game seven days a week.

- Unique in-real-life (IRL) events further propel the title, with Pokémon GO live events bringing millions of people together across multiple continents; two million tickets were sold for ‘Pokémon GO Fest’ alone in 2024. Attendees have caught 150 million+ Pokémon since the gatherings debuted.
“Pikmin Bloom” - In collaboration with Nintendo, Niantic unveiled “Pikmin Bloom” in 2021 to help players cover the world in flowers.

- Like the blooms planted by its players, the title continues to blossom, closing out 2024 with a record-breaking year. The game hit its highest active player count more than three years after launch.

- Players took 3.94 trillion steps in 2024 and gathered at in-person community events in Japan, the U.S., Germany, and Taiwan. Pikmin Bloom Journey brought together 10,000+ participants alone in Tokyo last year.

“Monster Hunter Now” - Niantic’s most recent game “Monster Hunter Now” has taken players by storm, particularly in Japan.

- After launching in September 2023, the game reached 15 million+ downloads in just seven months. Its growing playerbase also quickly embraced IRL events, with more than 20,000 people attending the first Monster Hunter Now Carnival event in Shibuya, Japan last October.

- Over 50% of its audience plays every day of the week, representing a deeply engaged player community that mirrors those of Scopely’s existing portfolio.

“Campfire” and “Wayfarer” - These social companion apps and services drive deep engagement across Niantic games. “Campfire” connects local player communities for real-world gameplay, fostering IRL friendships. “Wayfarer” enables players to map new locations for their favorite Niantic games, directly shaping their adventures in the games they love.

- These apps represent Niantic’s innovative approach to location-based games and highlight the team’s drive to continue elevating the player experience.

- In 2024 alone, 6 million+ people checked-in to in-person meet-ups via “Campfire.”

- The “Wayfarer” community has added more than 11.5 million new Wayspot locations to Niantic games since its 2019 launch.

“Niantic games have always been a bridge to connect people and inspire exploration, and I am confident they will continue to do both as part of Scopely,” said John Hanke, founder and CEO of Niantic. “Scopely shares our focus on building and operating incredible live services, has exceptional experience working with the world's biggest and most beloved intellectual properties, and cares deeply about its player communities and game-making teams. I firmly believe this partnership is great for our players and is the best way to ensure that our games have the long-term support and investment needed to be 'forever games' that will endure for future generations.”

Upon the acquisition, Niantic will spin off its technology platform into a new standalone entity, Niantic Spatial Inc. Led by Hanke, Niantic Spatial will be a geospatial AI company powered by a next generation map, enabling devices and machines to understand and interact with the physical world. Niantic Spatial and will continue to own and operate AR games “Ingress Prime” and “Peridot.” Read more on the Niantic blog here.

All members of the Niantic gamemaking team, along with tenured leaders Kei Kawai and Ed Wu, will join over 2,300 Scopeleans across Asia, EMEA, North America, and Central America to continue to develop and operate their beloved experiences.

“It’s been an incredible joy to serve hundreds of millions of Trainers in our real-world community for the past 10 years, and I truly believe the best is yet to come,” said Ed Wu, SVP of “Pokémon GO.” “Our mission remains clear: to inspire people to discover Pokémon in the real world together. With Scopely’s full commitment, experience, and resources, we're going to make Pokémon GO the very best it can be - from incredible battles for thousands of Trainers at a time at our live events to new ways to connect to your friends and community. Most importantly, we’ll remain focused on the excitement and experience of discovering Pokémon in the real world.”

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Source: https://www.scopely.com/en/news/scopely-to-acquire-niantic-games-business-which-includes-pokemon-go-one-of-the-most-successful-mobile-games-of-all-time

Pokémon GO: Moving to a New Home with Scopely

Trainers,
I’m Ed Wu and I have the privilege of leading the Pokémon GO team at Niantic. Today I wanted to share some important news: Pokémon GO will be joining Scopely, a video-game developer and publisher home to a wide range of leading games and talented teams around the world.

As it’s always important to me, and our entire game team, that our community understands and is excited by the long-term vision for this game, I want to share why I believe a partnership with Scopely will be a positive step for all of you and the game’s future.

First, Pokémon GO is more than just a game to me; it’s my life’s work. I’ve been part of Niantic since 2012 and deeply involved in many of our projects. In 2015, I was the original engineer on the Pokémon GO codebase, and in 2016, launched the game, working around the clock to make sure that hundreds of millions of Trainers could discover Pokémon in the real world together. Like many of you, I have fond memories from 2016, such as bringing home an alpha build to my then two-year-old daughter who intuitively and enthusiastically became the first young Trainer to ever throw a Poké Ball in our game. As an engineer, I’ve watched the code I’ve written for Pokémon GO change people’s lives drastically for the better. That includes my own family, from relatives improving their health from exercising while playing the game, to hearing so many members of our community recount how they’ve met the love of their lives through playing Pokémon GO and experiencing the incredible real-life community it fosters.

That’s why I’m very excited about today’s announcement. Here are a few reasons why I am confident about the road ahead:

• Scopely expressed a deep admiration for this community and our team. I have every belief Pokémon GO will further flourish as part of Scopely, not only into its second decade, but for many more years to come, under the mission of discovering Pokémon in the real world and inspiring people to explore together. Our new partnership, along with our decade long partnership with The Pokémon Company, means we can maintain this long-term focus. Scopely fully believes in our mission and ongoing goal to create the best Pokémon GO experience possible. Their focus will be to support our team, providing resources to continue delivering the gameplay you all know and love. Read more on their blog here.
• The entire Pokémon GO team is staying together through this partnership. The same people who have been guiding and building the game for years will continue doing what we love. We’re always continually adding to the game - Raid Battles, friends, GO Battle League, Routes, Dynamax/Gigantamax, and, of course, Pokémon GO Fest and our live events - which I look forward to continuing to do for many years to come. Scopely empowers their game teams as autonomous groups to go after the roadmaps that they’re inspired to pursue, and what each team believes is best for the player experience. This approach is extremely appealing to us at Niantic games. I have spoken to a number of game leaders at Scopely who have given me great confidence in how the company enables each game to independently develop and creatively thrive.
• We will be joining a broader organization dedicated to games. I believe that Pokémon GO can continue to thrive with Scopely’s exclusive and long-term focus on game-making. Scopely’s status as a private company also means we can prioritize what’s best for you, our Trainers, for the long term. We believe that prioritizing short-term gains at the expense of our long-term mission would be counterproductive and self-defeating. Every interaction I’ve had with Scopely leaders has reinforced that we are in total agreement that the scale, longevity and most of all, real world community, of Pokémon GO make it truly special. We are united in protecting that.

With Scopely’s full commitment, experience and resources, we’re going to make Pokémon GO the very best it can be – with incredible battles for thousands of Trainers at a time at our live events and new ways to connect to your friends and community, all while remaining focused on the excitement and experience of discovering Pokémon in the real world. We have invested to empower thousands of Community Leaders and Ambassadors who lead millions of Trainers to play together in the real world, and Scopely is in full agreement that this highly-admired program will be a priority to invest in together. The real-world community that loves Pokémon GO will remain our guiding light in all we do.

Our partners at The Pokémon Company have always been central to how we build this game together, starting with the physics of the first Poké Ball throw that we hand-tuned together. I am incredibly grateful for their daily wisdom, guidance, and careful stewardship of our shared vision for discovering Pokémon in the real world, and I’m very excited that our partnership with The Pokémon Company will continue as it has for the last decade.

I won’t say that Pokémon GO will remain the same, because it has always been a work in progress. But how we create and evolve it will remain unchanged, and I hope that we can make the experience even better for all of you.

I have so much gratitude for the incredible joy of serving hundreds of millions of Trainers in our real-world community for the past nine years, and I truly believe the best is yet to come.
-Ed

Source: https://pokemongolive.com/post/moving-to-a-new-home-2025