Niantic, the corporate behind the runaway hit Pokémon Go, mentioned Wednesday that it has agreed to promote its online game enterprise for $3.5 billion to Scopely, an organization owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
Pokémon Go, an augmented actuality cellular sport, grew to become a cultural sensation when it was launched in 2016. Tens of thousands and thousands of individuals world wide headed to streets, parks, seashores and even to the center of the ocean to seize monsters from the Japanese cartoon franchise.
The deal is the newest acquisition by Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund in a multibillion-dollar push into the online game trade. Pokémon Go nonetheless rakes in thousands and thousands of {dollars} and has legions of devoted followers.
Scopely, which is predicated in Culver Metropolis, Calif. and which owns video games together with the favored Monopoly Go, mentioned Wednesday in a separate assertion that it’s going to take up all of the workers of Niantic’s gaming groups. Pokémon Go has greater than 20 million lively weekly gamers, Scopely mentioned.
Scopely was acquired for $4.9 billion in 2023 by the Savvy Video games Group, which was launched a yr earlier by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund to guide its push into video video games, together with e-sports. The Saudi authorities has mentioned it’s going to make investments $38 billion in video video games by 2030 by means of the Public Funding Fund.
The fund manages virtually a trillion {dollars} in property, and invests in a variety of industries, from actual property and synthetic intelligence to sports activities and leisure, with a declared mission to diversify Saudi Arabia’s financial system past fossil fuels.
Some critics have described Saudi Arabia’s investments in sports activities and video video games as an try to shine the nation’s status, particularly on human rights.
