Niantic has finally discussed how it is acquisition of Scopely will affect Pokemon Go. Speaking to employees in a joint meeting between the companies Niantic assured the developers that there will be no major changes to the game following the deal and even confirmed that the game will not be discontinued.
This comes after Niantic sold it is gaming division to Scopely which includes all of its games and the teams working on them. Since this means employees will now be under new management the meeting was about what kind of changes they can expect and it seems Niantic wants to reassure them that everything will remain more or less the same as it was before.
Niantic Promises No Change to Pokémon Go's Direction After Acquisition
This was first reported by Japanese outlet IT Media Mobile, and then in English by Automaton Media. A Niantic spokesperson said Scopely’s involvement won’t lead to big changes in the game’s direction. They will only support it is further improvement and we will continue to do what we have been doing from the beginning. To put it more bluntly please be assured that we will not be shutting down the game.
This does not address any particular concerns fans have, however. While it seems like the general flow of the game and its updates and events will remain the same, it does not seem to affect monetization. Scopely already has a reputation for promoting predatory monetization practices in its mobile games including Marvel Strike Force and Star Trek Fleet Command, so fans were not optimistic when the company was named as the buyer for Pokémon Go.
We'll have to wait and see what impact this has on monetization but Scopely has invested $3.5 billion in Pokémon Go and Niantic's other games and so it will definitely want a return on its investment.
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