Niantic Labs, which created the mobile augmented reality (AR) game 'Pokémon Go,' has sold its video game division to a Saudi Arabian corporation. Niantic gained popularity with its AR-based mobile games, but it has been suffering from financial difficulties due to the lackluster performance of its successive titles.
On the 13th (local time), Niantic announced in a statement that it will sell its video game division to the Saudi Arabian-owned mobile game developer Scopely. The sale price is $3.5 billion (5.869 trillion won). This is higher than the market capitalization of major domestic game companies Netmarble or NCSOFT (3.4 trillion to 3.6 trillion won). The transaction will transfer popular mobile game titles such as 'Pokémon Go,' 'Monster Hunter Now,' and 'Pikmin Bloom' to Scopely. The sale process will be completed once regulatory approval and other contractual conditions are met.
'Pokémon Go,' Niantic's popular title, is a game in which players catch and raise Pokémon that appear on their mobile phone screens outdoors using AR technology. It attracted over 500 million players in its first year, but the game's popularity declined as outdoor activities were restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Successors such as 'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' also received a lukewarm response from users. Since then, Niantic has reduced the number of new projects and laid off at least 310 employees between 2022 and 2023.
'Pikmin Bloom,' which gained attention last year as a 'healing game,' also only experienced a brief surge in popularity. Pikmin Bloom is content where players collect plant seedlings while moving in reality and level up Pikmin characters by accumulating steps. The monthly active user count (MAU) for Pikmin Bloom reached about 1.44 million in November last year, but it dropped to 732,556 in February this year.
Niantic seems to be focusing on the development of geospatial technology in the future. Geospatial technology refers to the technology for collecting, analyzing, storing, managing, and visualizing location and spatial data. It aims to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to build 3D XR (extended reality) maps based on game user data. Since Niantic's games are played while users move, it possesses relevant data.
Previously, Niantic unveiled its geospatial AI technology platform 'Niantic Spatial Platform' last year. The team responsible for this will spin off into a new subsidiary called 'Niantic Spatial,' led by Niantic's CEO John Hanke. Niantic Spatial operates 'Ingress Prime' and the fat simulation game 'Peridot' and plans to develop services utilizing geospatial AI technology.
CEO John Hanke said, 'Niantic's games have always played a role in consolidating people and encouraging exploration, and I am confident that they will continue to fulfill this role after becoming part of Scopely.'