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Pokémon Go developer Niantic has discussed the game’s future following its impending sale to Monopoly Go maker Scopely, which is owned by the Saudi-backed Savvy Games Group, in a deal worth $3.5bn.
In a lengthy video interview with veteran Pokémon Go YouTuber TrainerTips, senior product director Michael Steranka discussed several of the main concerns among the game’s huge playerbase about the upcoming sale.
Asked whether Pokémon Go would ever get pop-up ads to drive more revenue, or share player location with either Scopely or Savvy, Steranka gave an emphatic no.
“That will never happen, I’m saying that right here now,” Steranka said about the idea of pop-up advertising appearing in-game.
As for player data, including scanned locations, this will still be shared with Niantic even after the sale, but will not leave the company’s US-based servers.
“Anything players still scan or submit through [Niantic’s location-adding software] Wayfarer or otherwise, that data does still get shared back to the Niantic Spatial organisation, but all that data is still fully encrypted and protected in all the ways we have been doing up until now – which is honestly best in class,” Steranka continued.
“Contrary to popular belief, we don’t store any player data beyond what’s needed to actually operate the game, everything is fully anonymised and it’s all stored on US servers. And in accordance to regulatory laws, to make sure your data is as safe and sound as possible. None of that is changing.”
Asked specifically if it would be shared further by Pokémon Go’s incoming owners, Steranka said no.
“It’s not shared up with Savvy or otherwise,” he said.
Speaking about the wider context of the deal, Steranka said it had been “in the works for a little while now” and made sense to separate the two halves of Niantic – the one focused on gaming, and the other focused on location mapping.
“As you, and many other players in the community could tell, I’m sure, even from an outsider’s perspective, Niantic’s always had a little bit of a dual personality,” Steranka said.
“It naturally made sense to build on this [geolocation] platform that was all about servicing those kinds of applications, but I will say it did also lead to competing priorities, or more regularly too many priorities for the team to focus on, or lean into.
“In terms of what’s good for Pokémon Go, this is absolutely one of the best things that could be happening to the game,” Steranka said, adding that he hoped it would allow the game’s design time to focus solely on what’s best for the product.
While the development team will “still have full autonomy in our games and the decisions we’re making”, there will be “less of an emphasis on scanning” in future, Steranka added.
Pokémon Go’s mission to get people outside is also “not changing”, Steranka said.
As for how Pokémon Go may be further monetised in future, Steranka said Scopely understood how profitable the game was already, and that it would not be wise to tamper with it.
“They’ve been very intrigued and impressed by how we monetise games,” Steranka said, explaining that Pokémon Go was a rare example of a free-to-play mobile game where a lot of players pay a little bit, compared to other games relying on only a few players who pay a lot.
Compared to the other paths open to Niantic, the sale to Scopely meant Pokémon Go’s team would not have to deal with shareholders by splitting off or dealing with another kind of owner, Steranka concluded.
Niantic confirmed its plans to sell Pokémon Go, Monster Hunter Now and Pikmin Bloom to the Saudi-backed Monopoly Go maker Scopely earlier this month.
Pokémon Go fans had expressed deep concern over Scopely’s acquisition of the game, after word of the deal was reported online – something Niantic has continued to try and assuage. The hugely-popular mobile game has over 20 million weekly active players, with an average of 40 minutes daily playtime, and is set to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2026.
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Kurt Indovina
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