A new owner for a mobile giant

Pokemon GO enters a new chapter in 2026, both in ownership and in age. Scopely completed its acquisition of Niantic's games division, including Pokemon GO, in a $3.5 billion deal that closed in May 2025 after being announced that March. The game and its development team of more than 400 people moved to Scopely, which is owned by Savvy Games Group, backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.

That ownership drew some concern over foreign investment and location-data privacy, but leadership made public commitments to reassure players.

Promises and the anniversary

The transition came with pledges and a milestone celebration:

Scopely and Niantic leadership committed to no major changes to the game, no obtrusive ads built into it, and not selling players' location data.
Through mid-2026, no game-breaking monetization overhaul has been reported, easing some early fears.
Pokemon GO celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2026, having originally launched in July 2016.
GO Tour: Kalos ran from late February into March 2026 as part of the anniversary season.

The 2026 GO Fest tour

The flagship GO Fest events remain a highlight of the calendar, and the 2026 season spans three international cities plus a global online event. Tokyo hosts the tour in late May, Chicago follows in early June at Grant Park, and Copenhagen closes the in-person run in mid-June, with a separate GO Fest Global event returning online. These gatherings continue to draw large crowds and remain central to the game's community appeal.

A decade in, Pokemon GO's endurance is remarkable. Few mobile games sustain a passionate player base for ten years, and the augmented-reality title has done so through constant events, new Pokemon generations, and the real-world social play that made it a phenomenon in 2016. The ownership change is the biggest business shift in its history, and so far the feared disruptions have not materialized.

The question hanging over the Scopely era is how monetization evolves over time. Some commentators speculate about gradual changes, but the public commitments and the absence of major paywall or ad shifts through mid-2026 suggest continuity for now. For a game built on daily habits and community trust, maintaining that stability matters enormously.

As Pokemon GO marks ten years, it does so as both a cultural institution and a business asset under new stewardship. The GO Fest tour, the anniversary celebrations, and the steady cadence of updates show a game still very much alive, navigating a major ownership transition while keeping its enormous audience engaged around the world.