Good day, Pokémon Trainers! It has been a full year since Scopely, Inc. bought out Niantic, the company behind Pokémon GO and other outdoors-centric AR experiences and they’ve put out a video celebrating their anniversary together!
About The Video
While the video is largely a structured corporate “mini documentary” acting both as a celebration for a successful acquisition and as a form corporate marketing, some things can certainly be gleaned from it. The video highlights interviews from Kim Adams and Michael Steranka, vice presidents for Pokémon GO’s game development and product divisions respectively, along with the Japanese team behind Pikmin Bloom and Monster Hunter Now, and many others.
Despite being a pretty short and heavily edited video some of the inner workings during the acquisition does seem to seep through. In particular, it seems a major concern for members of Niantic at that time were the potential for a clash of culture between the two companies. On the other hand, on Scopely’s end, it seems one of the major reasons they were interested in the acquisition was the strong community building elements Pokémon GO and other Niantic games. Many in the video also claim that Scopely has a relatively hands-off approach in regards to Niantic’s approach to video game creation and management.
Now that it has been a year, what do you think of this acquisition? There were certainly valid concerns when it was announced last year. However, the game has had some big new gameplay methods and rebalances since the acquisition. Would you say the game is in the right track, or more drastic decisions in regards to how the game is handled would be more desirable?
About Scopely, Inc.
Scopely, Inc. is a Game Development and Publishing Company headquarted in California, but with offices in various parts of the world including North America, Central America, Asia and The EMEA region. Scopely, Inc. is best known for creating and publishing the highly successful and profitable MONOPOLY GO! After their acquisition of Niantic on May 29, 2025, they are now the owners of Pokémon GO, along with all future and current Niantic game projects.
