spatialcomputing.info

Niantic, the company behind hit mobile game Pokémon Go (2016), announced the sale of its gaming division to Scopely for $3.85 billion, confirming a previous Bloomberg report. Furthermore, the company now says it’s focusing on advancing its AI-powered geospatial technology and AR tech.

As a part of the deal, the Saudi Arabia-owned mobile game developer Scopely is taking over many of Niantic’s most well-known titles, including Pokémon GO, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now. Original development teams attached to those games will also transition to Scopely, the companies say in a statement.

The sale of its gaming division has also prompted Niantic to spin off a new company, called Niantic Spatial, which will be focused on developing its stack of geospatial AI tech, which combines location-based info 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 company says, noting it hopes to leverage its geospatial AI and AR tech in enterprise applications.

The spin-off, which will be led by John Hanke, is being funded with $250 million, including $200 million from Niantic and $50 million from Scopely.

The company says Niantic Spatial will develop AI-driven solutions for industries like logistics, construction, and entertainment, as it continues development on its existing Scaniverse and Visual Positioning System (VPS) technology.

Acquired from Toolbox AI in 2021, Scaniverse is a 3D scanning tool that uses Gaussian splatting to create highly detailed digital models of real-world objects and environments. To showcase Scaniverse, the company recently released Into the Scaniverse (2025) for Quest, which allows users to scan environments with their phones and view them in-headset.

Released in 2022, the company’s Visual Positioning System is a geospatial AI system that enables precise real-world location tracking and AR navigation, touted for its centimeter-level accuracy. It’s since been integrated into a host of the company’s location-based games, such as Pokémon GO, Ingress, and Peridot.

What’s missing in the shakeup however is any insight into the state of its 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.

Granted, we haven’t heard anything about the reference design since then, which was created to spur manufacturers and other companies to create AR headsets meant for outdoor environments.

Still, the acquisition signals a major shift for Niantic from gaming to geospatial AI and enterprise AR. Instead of focusing on game development, Niantic is doubling down on its Visual Positioning System, 3D mapping, and AI-powered AR platforms, which it hopes to use to build a foundation for the next generation of AR experiences.