Niantic, the company behind the fleeing success Pokémon Go, declared Wednesday that he agreed to sell his video game activity for 3.5 billion dollars at Scopelly, a company owned by the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Pokémon Go, an increased mobile game of reality, became a cultural sensation when it was released in 2016. Tens of millions of people all over the world went to streets, parks, beaches and even at the center of the ocean to capture monsters from the Japanese cartoon franchise.
The agreement is the last acquisition by the public investment fund of Saudi Arabia in a push by billions of dollars in the video game sector. Pokémon Go Rastrella still in millions of dollars and has legions of devoted fans.
Scopely, which is based in Culver City, California, who owns games including the popular Monopoly Go, has declared on Wednesday in a separate declaration that will absorb all the staff of Niantic’s game teams. Pokémon Go has over 20 million active weekly players, said Scopely.
Scopely was acquired for $ 4.9 billion in 2023 by the Savvy Games group, which was launched a year earlier by the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund to guide his push in video games, including electronic sports. The Saudi government has declared that it will invest $ 38 billion in video games by 2030 through the public investment fund.
The fund manages almost a trillion of dollars in activity and invests in a wide range of sectors, from the real estate sector and from artificial intelligence to sport and entertainment, with a mission declared to diversify the economy of Saudi Arabia beyond fossil fuels.
Some critics described the investments of Saudi Arabia in sports and video games as an attempt to polish the country’s reputation, in particular on human rights.