Niantic has seemingly riding on the success of Pokemon Go for the longest time. But it looks like the company may have intentions of selling off its gaming division, including the golden goose licensed from The Pokemon Company.
Bloomberg reports that video games business of Niantic may get sold to Scopely Inc, a mobiles developer owned by Savvy Games Group, itself a part of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Citing sources familiar with the matter, the reports notes that the two companies are in talks, with a deal coming up to the tune of US$3.5 billion (~RM15.5 billion).
If the trade is successful, all of games that Niantic has developed, including the likes of Monster Hunter Now, will be joining Pokemon Go in being under new ownership. For now though, there’s no guarantee yet that the deal will go through.
Despite many attempts to recapture the lightning in the bottle that was Pokemon Go, Niantic has not been able to get its other games to reach such peaks. In fact, some have done so poorly that they’ve been canned altogether, such as Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. And while Pokemon Go may very well be the most successful AR game ever, it may be more to do with the IP rather than the developer.
(Source: Bloomberg)
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