Alongside Niantic’s wider gaming division, Pokémon Go was recently acquired by the mobile game Juggernaut Scopley. On the $3.5 billion sale, players are a bit worried about what it means for a game of catching walkaround monsters, and their director is trying to ease those horrors.
In a new interview with Polygon, Pokémon Go Senior Product Director Michael Steanka discussed sales to Scopely and plans under the exclusive GO! Publisher. Stelanca said she is looking for some of the players’ theories online. “All I can get is like, ‘Hey, that’s actually great,'” Stelanca said. “It’s going to be good for the game and the community.”
Pokémon GO’s future concerns run the scope, from monetization and mechanics to impacts from Saudi-based ownership. When asked about possible intrusive ads and playtime restrictions, Stelanca said, “No doubt it’s not happening in Pokemon Go – not now, not before.”
“Again, Scopely really recognizes how unique this game is, and they told us it was stupid to try and change the recipe of such a big hit and success,” Steanka argued.
“Yeah, absolutely not. We don’t build any kind of mandatory ads or anything like that in the game. I really want to repeat it with Scop as a company.
Steanka emphasized that the GO team does not sell player data to third parties, “full stops,” and only utilizes location data for game operations.
Even after leaving Niantic, getting out and going outside remains focused.
Eric is an Passthecontroller freelance writer.
