Niantic, the studio behind Pokémon Go, has sold the game in a massive $3.85 billion deal just months after unveiling that its app had been harvesting visual data from users to feed an artificial intelligence model. Scopely is the buyer, acquiring the game and its development team as part of the transaction.
The revelation that Niantic used player scans to build a geospatial AI platform caused a stir late last year. Through an augmented reality feature, players were encouraged to scan locations where digital creatures appeared. These scans provided hundreds of images per session, helping train a system capable of functioning in over 1 million locations worldwide.
Pokemon Go used user cameras to develop an AI Geospacial Model. Can't have any fun without these companies using our data! pic.twitter.com/RoGU2wzsH0
— Bryan S3 (@BrianSoto683799) November 23, 2024
Niantic said the scanning tool was optional, but the company still reported receiving approximately 1 million new submissions per week. The collected imagery helped the AI understand angles and surfaces that could not be captured by typical mapping technologies, including curved roads, variable lighting and objects that change with the seasons.
Scopely’s acquisition includes Pokémon Go, Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom. The deal brings Scopely closer to becoming one of the largest mobile publishers. It is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, which purchased Scopely in 2023 for $4.9 billion. Some of the company’s existing titles have faced criticism for using high-cost in-app purchases to drive profits.
Niantic's primary goal is corporate, not gameplay. The location and mapping data used to feed their geospacial machine learning model is far more valuable to them than player satisfaction.
That's why they've made countless choices against what players wanted or needed.— David Phoenix (@DavidRMPhoenix1) December 11, 2024
Niantic will continue operating its lesser-known titles, Ingress and Peridot, under a new company named Niantic Spatial. That new firm will direct its efforts toward expanding the mapping platform that began with data collected through Pokémon Go. Initial funding for Niantic Spatial stands at $250 million.
It's official.
Niantic is selling its gaming business to Scopely, within Savvy Games, for a total value upwards of $3.85B.
Pokémon Go, MH Now, Pikmin Bloom.
Big shake-up, consolidation in the space.
Niantic is also spinning out its geospacial AI business into Niantic Spatial. https://t.co/ADkn9ZT6pN pic.twitter.com/4y7vYL0Yqe
— Dom (@DomsPlaying) March 12, 2025
In past comments, Niantic officials explained that robots and photo-vehicles were often unable to access or accurately scan certain places. The player-generated scans helped fill in gaps and gave the model insight into locations with complex geometry.
Neither Niantic nor Scopely have provided details about whether Nintendo, Gamefreak or The Pokémon Company had to sign off on the deal, despite owning the intellectual property that underpins Pokémon Go.
