Niantic, the company behind Hit Mobile Game Pokémon Go (2016), Sales in the gaming division were announced to scopely for $3.855 billion, confirming the previous one Bloomberg Report. Additionally, the company says it is currently focusing on AI-powered geospatial technology and advances in AR Tech.
As part of the deal, Scopely, a mobile game developer owned by Saudi Arabia, has taken over many of Niantic’s most famous titles. Pokemon GO, Pikmin Bloomand Monster Hunter Now. The original development team attached to these games will also move to scope, the company said in a statement.
Sales in the gaming division have prompted Niantic to spin off a new company called Niantic Spatial. It focuses on developing a stack of geospatial AI technologies that combine location-based information with machine learning and AI.
Niantic Spatial aims to build “spatial intelligence that helps people better understand, navigate and engage with the physical world.”
The spinoff, led by John Hanke, is funded for $250 million, including $200 million from Niantic and $50 million from Scopely.
The company says Niantic Spatial will continue to develop existing scanniverse and visual positioning system (VPS) technologies, making it a reality to develop AI-driven solutions for industries such as logistics, construction and entertainment.
Retrieved from Toolbox AI in 2021, Scaiverse is a 3D scanning tool that uses Gaussian splatting to create highly detailed digital models of real objects and environments. The company was recently released to showcase Scaiverse On Scanniverse (2025) For quests, where users can scan their environment on their mobile phones and view their headsets.
Released in 2022, the company’s visual positioning system is a geospatial AI system that allows for accurate real-world location tracking and AR navigation, advertised with centimeter-level accuracy. It has since been integrated into the company’s location-based game host. Pokemon GO, Ingressand Peridot.
But what’s missing from the shakeup is insight into the state of AR hardware efforts. In late 2022, the company revealed it was working with Qualcomm on a reference AR headset based on the Snapdragon AR2 platform.
Certainly we haven’t heard Anything Subsequent reference designs were created to promote manufacturers and other companies to create AR headsets for outdoor environments.
Still, the acquisition marks a major Niantic shift from games to geospatial AI and enterprise AR. Instead of focusing on game development, Niantic doubles its visual positioning system, 3D mapping and AI-powered AR platform. This is what we want to use to build the foundation for the next generation of AR experiences.
