Saudi Funding Fund pays $3.5bn to seize Pokémon Go

Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund (PIF) pays $3.5bn (£2.7bn) to purchase the gaming division of developer Niantic, whose titles embrace the hit cellular sport Pokémon Go.

The sport includes gamers strolling round in the actual world to hunt the collectable creatures, which seem on their cellphone screens utilizing augmented actuality.

Regardless of launching nearly a decade in the past, Pokémon Go remains to be amongst the highest-grossing cellular video games on the planet, with 30 million month-to-month gamers.

The deal marks the most recent step by Saudi Arabia to develop its gaming trade, which it has spent billions of kilos on lately.

Niantic’s different video games, akin to Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom, are additionally included within the acquisition, together with the folks employed to make them.

They’ll turn into a part of Scopely Inc – which itself was purchased by PIF subsidiary Savvy Video games Group for $4.9bn in 2023.

Scopely is among the largest names in cellular gaming, with its most profitable title, Monopoly Go, being downloaded greater than 50 million occasions and producing greater than $3bn in income.

Pokémon itself is collectively owned by Nintendo, Sport Freak and Creatures, which licensed the model to Niantic so it might develop the sport.

Ed Wu, who leads the Pokémon Go staff at Niantic, mentioned in a weblog submit he believed the transfer was “a constructive step” for the sport’s future.

“Pokémon Go is greater than only a sport to me, it is my life’s work,” he mentioned.

“I will not say that Pokémon Go will stay the identical, as a result of it has at all times been a piece in progress.

“However how we create and evolve it’s going to stay unchanged, and I hope that we will make the expertise even higher.”

Saudi Arabia is changing into an more and more highly effective participant in gaming.

Its PIF has stakes in a number of the largest publishers within the trade, akin to Nintendo, Digital Arts and Take-Two Interactive.

It has additionally made waves within the eSports trade, with Saudi Arabia internet hosting main tournaments together with final yr’s eSports World Cup, which had a prize pool of over $60m.

Riyadh may also host 2027’s deliberate Olympic eSports Video games.

Saudi Arabia’s PIF has tons of of billions in property as a consequence of its oil wealth, which it has been investing closely in sports activities akin to golf, boxing and soccer, together with a purchase order of Newcastle United in a £300m deal in 2021.

It’s managed by the nation’s prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose authorities has been accused of human rights violations.

A 2019 UN report acknowledged that “the state of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is accountable” for the loss of life of Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist who was crucial of the nation’s authorities.

Saudi Arabia has at all times denied this.