Niantic, Inc., the company behind Pokémon GO and Ingress, has undergone major ownership changes recently. As of March 2026, its video game division was sold to Scopely—a mobile gaming firm owned by Saudi Arabia's Savvy Games Group—for $3.5 billion in early 2025.

Ownership Timeline

Niantic started as a Google internal project in 2010 before spinning out independently in 2015 with investments from Google, Nintendo, and The Pokémon Company. It remained privately held with various venture backers until the 2025 split.

  • Pre-2025 : Majority control with founder John Hanke and early investors like Nintendo (via Pokémon ties).
  • March 2025 : Sold game assets (Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, etc.) to Scopely; spun off non-gaming geospatial tech as Niantic Spatial, still led by Hanke and backed by original investors.
  • May 2025 : Scopely finalized the deal, gaining full control of Niantic's gaming IP.

Current Structure

Niantic proper no longer exists as a unified entity—its gaming side operates under Scopely, while Niantic Spatial focuses on AR/geospatial AI (e.g., tech from Ingress, Peridot). Scopely, ultimately owned by Saudi investors, now steers the popular titles like Pokémon GO.

Entity| Owner| Key Focus
---|---|---
Niantic Games (ex-division)| Scopely (Savvy Games Group)| Pokémon GO, Monster Hunter Now 7
Niantic Spatial| John Hanke + original investors| Geospatial AI, AR platforms 3

This pivot followed post-Pokémon GO struggles, including layoffs and game closures like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Forum chatter on Reddit notes fans still call game devs "Niantic" out of habit, akin to Blizzard under Microsoft.

TL;DR : Scopely (Saudi-owned) owns Niantic's games; Niantic Spatial holds the tech side.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.