Pokemon GO dev Niantic to sell its gaming business to Scopely [update: official]

February 18: According to a report from Bloomberg, Niantic is gearing up for a sale of its video game business to Scopely. The outlets cites “several people familiar with the discussions.”

No official announcements have been made at this time. However, Bloomberg states that a price of $3.5 billion is currently being thrown around. An official announcement is expected in the weeks ahead. 

Assuming to deal closes, Scopely would own all of Niantic’s games. These include Pokemon GO as well as Pikmin Bloom. Pokemon GO has been a global phenomenon since it came to mobile in 2016, though Pikmin Bloom hasn’t quite been a breakout hit.

As for Scopely, that’s owned by Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The same group has a sizable investment in Nintendo, though its stake was reduced towards the end of last year.

Pokemon GO and Pikmin Bloom are both available on mobile via iOS and Android.

March 12: It’s now been made official that Scopely is acquiring Pokemon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now for $3.5 billion with an additional $350 million of cash from Niantic being distributed as part of the deal. Also announced today is that Niantic is spinning off its pioneering geospatial AI business into a new company, Niantic Spatial Inc.