Pokemon Go took the world by storm when it launched in 2016. Forcing gamers to go outside in order to catch Pokemon was a brilliant, albeit funny move. Over time, the game took over entire cities, causing traffic and chaos wherever a coveted Pokemon was spotted. Niantic has been enjoying the success since.
Suburban Pokemon Go just doesn’t hit the same.
However, it seems things are about to change, as Niantic is reportedly in talks to sell Pokemon Go, along with its entire games unit. This comes via a Bloomberg (via Yahoo Finance) report which claims that the entire segment may be sold to a Saudi Arabia-owned company called Scopely Inc. Reportedly, the deal will be announced in the next few weeks, and will be priced at around $3.5 billion according to sources.
While Pokemon Go was a massive success, Niantic's following games never quite took off in the same manner. In June 2023, the company laid off 230 employees and cancelled two games which were reportedly based on Marvel and the NBA. Eventually, even its Harry Potter: Wizards Unite game was shut down.
18 months late to the party, I can see that I didn’t want to be...
