Niantic, famously recognized for creating Pokémon Go back in 2016, is reportedly in discussions with Scopely, a company owned by Saudi Arabia, about selling off its gaming division.
Bloomberg recently shared this scoop, citing sources familiar with the negotiations. They say the two companies are hammering out a deal that might see Scopely acquiring Niantic’s gaming department for a hefty sum of $3.5 billion. If all goes well, we could see this deal being finalized in just a few weeks.
This potential sale involves not just Pokémon Go, but also other popular titles under Niantic’s umbrella, including Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom.
Niantic also ventured into the world of Harry Potter with Wizards Unite, trying to replicate the massive success they saw with Pokémon Go. However, that attempt didn’t quite hit the mark, and they had to pull the plug on development by 2022.
Should the sale come through, Niantic, based in San Francisco, will likely set its sight entirely on advancing its suite of augmented reality (AR) development platforms and geo-spatial mapping technologies.
In May 2022, Niantic introduced the Lightship Visual Positioning System, a groundbreaking tool designed to create a 3D map of the world for AR devices to use. This tech ensures devices maintain a shared perspective, even on a large scale.
Not long after, Niantic made headlines by teaming up with Qualcomm to develop a reference AR headset. This device, inspired by the Snapdragon AR2 platform, was branded as an “outdoor AR headset” at the time.
Even though Niantic hasn’t rolled out any of its own hardware yet, last September they caught attention by partnering with Snap. Their collaboration aims to bring Niantic’s AR pet simulator game, Peridot, to Snap’s fifth-gen Spectacles.
A few months followed, and Niantic made another stride by launching a WebXR app named Into The Scaniverse. Built with Niantic Studio, this app allows users to capture real-world sites in 3D and view them using Meta Quest.
If Niantic does end up selling its gaming assets, it’s reasonable to expect their focus to shift entirely toward augmented reality. They would likely harness the power of their Visual Positioning System, Niantic Studio, and the Niantic Spatial Platform SDK to pioneer new AR innovations.
