Niantic, the mastermind behind the wildly popular Pokémon Go, is reportedly considering a major shift. If the rumors are true, discussions are underway with Saudi Arabia-owned Scopely regarding the sale of Niantic’s gaming division.
According to insiders cited by Bloomberg, the potential deal is shaping up to be a substantial one, with a $3.5 billion price tag being bandied about. If everything goes as planned, we could see this acquisition finalized in a matter of weeks. This sale would not only include Pokémon Go but also other titles from Niantic’s portfolio like Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom.
Beyond Pokémon Go, Niantic has earned a reputation for ambitious mobile games, including Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Unfortunately, the Harry Potter game didn’t quite capture the magic of its predecessor and met an untimely end when development ceased in 2022.
Assuming the deal proceeds, Niantic, headquartered in San Francisco, may pivot even more towards its growing suite of AR development platforms and geo-spatial mapping tools. Earlier this year, in May to be precise, Niantic rolled out its Lightship Visual Positioning System. This system helps create a detailed 3D map of the world, allowing AR devices to share a unified perspective, even on large scales.
Later in the year, Niantic made another significant announcement—collaborating with Qualcomm on an AR headset prototype built on the Snapdragon AR2 platform, which they dubbed the “outdoor AR headset” at the time. Although Niantic hasn’t released any hardware per se, the company did enter a notable partnership last September with Snap to bring their AR pet simulator, Peridot, to Snap’s latest Spectacles.
Just a few months after, Niantic launched a VPS-enhanced WebXR app called Into The Scaniverse. Developed using Niantic Studio, this app allows users to capture real-world locations in 3D, viewable through devices like the Meta Quest.
If Niantic does indeed part ways with its gaming properties, we’d likely see the company double down on its AR endeavors. This would mean fully embracing technologies like VPS, Niantic Studio, and the Niantic Spatial Platform SDK, effectively reshaping their focus entirely around augmented reality advancements.
