Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund (PIF) is buying Nianticâ(TM)s gaming division for $3.5 billion by way of its subsidiary Savvy Video games Group. Niantic’s titles embrace the hit cell sport Pokemon Go, Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom. “Regardless of launching virtually a decade in the past, Pokemon Go remains to be amongst the highest-grossing cell video games on the earth, with 30 million month-to-month gamers,” notes the BBC. From the report: Scopely is without doubt one of the greatest names in cell gaming, with its most profitable title, Monopoly Go, being downloaded greater than 50 million occasions and producing greater than $3 billion in income. Pokemon itself is collectively owned by Nintendo, Sport Freak and Creatures, which licensed the model to Niantic so it might develop the sport.
Ed Wu, who leads the Pokemon Go group at Niantic, mentioned in a weblog submit he believed the transfer was “a constructive step” for the sport’s future. “Pokemon Go is greater than only a sport to me, it is my life’s work,” he mentioned. “I will not say that Pokemon Go will stay the identical, as a result of it has all the time been a piece in progress. However how we create and evolve it would stay unchanged, and I hope that we are able to make the expertise even higher.”