A message from Scopely co-CEOs Javier Ferreira and Walter Driver:
Today, we are proud to share that we’ve agreed to acquire the games business of Niantic, Inc. through a deal valued at $3.5 billion. We are extremely excited to welcome their entire team of exceptionally talented gamemakers to Scopely, along with their beloved creations: critically-acclaimed games “Pokémon GO,” “Pikmin Bloom,” and “Monster Hunter Now,” real-world community building app “Campfire,” the “Wayfarer” service, and the global roster of community gatherings that support these games, including “Pokémon GO” live events.
Players can expect that these games, apps, and events will stay true to the experiences they know and love and remain driven by the same dedicated development teams behind these beloved products. Scopely’s role post-closing will be to empower the Niantic game team to pursue their ambitious roadmap by providing resources and support, all in service of giving players more of what they want from their favorite games.
World-class game teams
The Niantic team is a clear leader in mobile games, but what makes them so exceptional is their ability to create innovative experiences that cultivate large, highly engaged, enduring player communities. They bring deep care, skill, and craftsmanship to their work, building games that foster joy and get people out in the real world. Their live services expertise, creative drive, and willingness to take risks to consistently elevate their player experiences has always impressed us. We see many shared values, a commitment to transparency, and a passion for continuous learning between our two teams. We are deeply committed to fostering a culture where gamemakers can do their most creative work. We believe this partnership will further empower the Niantic games team to achieve their exciting long-term goals.
Upon closing, the Niantic games teams will continue to develop and operate their beloved apps and live events at Scopely, under the guidance of their long-time leaders Ed Wu and Kei Kawai. We believe in empowering game teams to go after the roadmaps they are most inspired to pursue and what they believe is best for players. We can’t wait to see the magic they deliver.
Deeply engaged communities across the portfolio
Niantic games have always focused on creating experiences that are made for the real world, inspiring people to come together and form meaningful relationships through play – which firmly aligns with Scopely’s belief that life is better when we play together. The Niantic team’s mission to draw people outdoors, inspire exploration, encourage exercise, and create connection has always set them apart in the games community. Their approach is why they’ve been so successful in capturing the hearts and minds of players around the world.
“Pokémon GO,” for example, reaches people across 190 countries and regions, spanning six continents. What’s more exciting is how committed these players – called Trainers – are to their favorite game. The average Trainer spends 40 minutes a day discovering Pokémon in the real world. The community, which encapsulates all demographics, is drawn to the game day-in and day-out because of social connection, camaraderie, and endless adventures that the Niantic team cultivates.
At Scopely, our games are also designed to foster highly social experiences. We aim every day to build never-ending digital playgrounds – often based on beloved entertainment brands – to welcome home a deeply engaged player community and inspire play, every day.
Both Niantic and Scopely also firmly believe in meeting players where they are. Whether that’s accomplished through live events like Pokémon GO Fest, community apps like Campfire, or cross-platform play as featured in Scopely’s “Stumble Guys” and “Star Trek™ Fleet Command,” everything we do and will continue to do together is in service of forging relationships between players.
An ongoing cultural phenomenon – nine years post launch
Few games in the world have delivered the level of durability and scale as “Pokémon GO,” with one of the most engaged player communities in the world. With over 100 million players just last year, “Pokémon GO” has remained a top 10 mobile title every year since its launch in 2016. It’s an experience “made for the real world,” with players exploring an astonishing 30 billion+ miles over the game’s lifetime.
What makes “Pokémon GO” truly special is its ability to foster in-person connections. “Pokémon GO” live events attract millions of attendees around the world across four key experiences: “Pokémon GO Fest,” “Pokémon GO Tour,” “Pokémon GO Wild Area” and “Pokémon GO City Safari.” The scale of these events is exceptional, rivaling some of the biggest festivals and events in the world. More people attended the global “Pokémon GO Fest” last year than Coachella, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Electric Daisy Carnival, and Tomorrowland – combined.
In an era driven by performance marketing, “Pokémon GO” is also a product with exceptional organic interest, as the team has built an incredibly innovative experience that excites players to come back for more and keeps the game at the forefront of popular culture almost a decade after launch. The game’s global Google search volume in the past seven days was nearly 8x greater than the current #1 movie on Netflix, nearly 10x greater than the #1 song on Spotify, and even topped searches for Cristiano Ronaldo, the most followed person on Instagram in the world with over 685M followers.
A unique partnership with a bright future
With the Niantic games business, our combined portfolio will create one of the largest player communities in the world with over half a billion players. We will also be one of the only games companies with two top 10 mobile games (“Pokémon GO” and “MONOPOLY GO!”), which each achieved two of the biggest mobile launches of all time during their respective debuts in 2016 and 2023.
Transformative partnerships, investments, and acquisitions have always been a key pillar of our Scopely strategy. We have a long track record of both investing in and collaborating with game studios acquiring scaled, established brands and teams that are operating at the highest levels – from FoxNext Games to GSN Games to party royale hit “Stumble Guys.” Over our 13 year history, we’ve completed countless transactions, representing billions of dollars worth of deals. We are continually looking for industry- and category-leading products that complement our expertise and portfolio. Just last year, we met with over 800 companies, assessing many products, teams, and technology. Niantic’s games business truly stood out as a one-of-a-kind group.
We are incredibly lucky to be able to do deals of this scale with Savvy at our side. Since our acquisition in 2023, when we became an independently-operated company under the Savvy umbrella, we have spent a good amount of time aligning on what we want to accomplish together. Collectively, we want to be one of the most dynamic and impactful games companies in the world. Finding exceptional teams and products to join our portfolio – like Niantic games and its slate of real-world games – is key to accomplishing that mission. Savvy enables us to go after our long-term ambitions by supporting transactions of this magnitude. This transaction represents one of the largest games deals made by a private company in the last decade, ranking alongside Scopely’s own acquisition by Savvy in 2023 for $4.9 billion.
We can’t wait to see what the future holds, and look forward to welcoming the incredible Niantic games team to the adventure!
Read More: A message to the “Pokémon GO,” “Pikmin Bloom,” and “Monster Hunter Now” communities
Read More: Scopely to acquire Niantic games business, which includes “Pokémon GO,” one of the most successful mobile games of all time