Niantic sells Pokemon GO to Scopely as part of $3.85 billion deal

Niantic announced via a blog post on March 12, 2025, that the company was transferring ownership of Pokemon GO, as well as Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter Now, and its development team to Scopely, as part of a $3.85 billion deal. Speculation about this move was doing rounds since the February 19, 2025, Bloomberg report came out.

According to the post, this move was motivated by a need to shift focus towards developing Niantic's augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and geospatial technology, under the Niantic Spatial Inc. banner.

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Pokemon GO will be run by Scopely going forward

Scopely is taking over Pokemon GO and two other games previously run by Niantic for $3.5 billion and an additional $350 million of cash from Niantic. This brings the deal to a whopping $3.85 billion total value for Niantic's equity holders.

Pokemon GO's head, Ed Wu, shared in a separate blog post that Scopely had expressed interest in maintaining the game's development team and community. All members of the team are being retained through this change and all the features — Raid Battles, friends, GO Battle League, Routes, Dynamax/Gigantamax battles, and in-person events — will continue to function as usual.

While game-making was only a part of Niantic's core vision, Scopely is, by and large, a game developing and publishing company. Therefore, Wu believed that the game could thrive more in their hands in the long run.

When the deal between Niantic and Scopely was initially announced, Pokemon GO players had responded with skepticism. Its confirmation is expected to cause some waves in the community, with players expressing different opinions over time.

That said, Pokemon GO Fest 2025 — to be held in Osaka, Paris, and Jersey City — remains on track. Even the other events to be held in March 2025 or the Might and Mastery season will remain unaffected by this change in ownership.