Niantic Spatial Lays Off 68 After $3.5 Billion Scopely Sale; Game Teams Unaffected

Niantic, the developer best known for Pokémon Go, has laid off 68 employees following the $3.5 billion sale of its games business to Scopely, a subsidiary of Savvy Games Group, which is owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The layoffs affect Niantic Spatial, the newly formed company that remains after the sale and is now focused on geospatial artificial intelligence. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing in California, the affected employees—including editors, analysts, and SEO managers—were notified on March 20, 2025, with the layoffs set to take effect on May 20, 2025. Niantic CEO John Hanke stated that the company is restructuring to operate as a startup, and that some roles are no longer required due to the new focus. Scopely, which acquired Niantic's games portfolio including Pokémon Go, Monster Hunter Now, and Pikmin Bloom, clarified that no layoffs are planned for the game teams now under its ownership. Niantic and Scopely have assured players that the direction of Pokémon Go and other games will not undergo major changes under new ownership. Niantic Spatial has been launched with $250 million in funding—$200 million from Niantic's balance sheet and $50 million from Scopely—to accelerate its work in geospatial AI. The company emphasized that the layoffs do not reflect the performance of the affected employees and expressed appreciation for their contributions.