Latest news with #Scopley
Japan Times
26-03-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Behind the $3.5 billion Pokemon deal lies a consolidation strategy
Scopely's $3.5 billion purchase of the hit game Pokemon Go this month is part of larger strategy to build a business through acquisitions as the video-game industry overall struggles. Scopley's goal, according to Co-CEO Javier Ferreira, is to have a portfolio of successful titles that can support each other in an $178 billion industry that was essentially flat last year. While mobile games like Pokemon Go are at the core of Scopely's business, the company is developing or considering acquiring PC and console titles. Ferreira said massively multiplayer online role-playing games are "interesting,' although he declined to say if the company was making one. "There's consolidation happening in the marketplace,'' Ferreira said in an interview from the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week. "What's driving it is that it's become increasingly difficult to achieve growth and success.' On Tuesday, game maker CD Projekt said it was working with Scopley on a game tied to one of its properties. Scopley can afford to spend on acquisitions because it has a wealthy backer. Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, bought Scopely for $4.9 billion in 2023, tapping a pool of $38 billion the kingdom has allocated for video-game investments. The same month that deal was announced, Scopely released Monopoly Go! The mobile version of the famous board game reached $1 billion in revenue faster than any other, and surpassed $3 billion in a little more than a year, according to data from researcher Sensor Tower. Scopely has spent more than $1 billion marketing Monopoly Go!, according to Ferreira. Last month, it was downloaded about 3 million times, according to Sensor Tower. Scopley's headcount of 2,400 employee will increase, Ferreira said. That's a sharp contrast to an industry that has seen thousands of layoffs in the past year. Scopely is taking a relatively hands off approach with Pokemon Go. The game's former owner, Niantic, had a spotty hit rate with its new titles, canceling games attached to properties as popular as Harry Potter. Aside from the three titles the Niantic unit currently runs, "there are no plans to develop any new games,' Ferreira said. Scopely looked at "hundreds' of potential deals last year, Brian Ward, Savvy's CEO, said in a separate interview at the event. His goal for 2024 was for Scopely to "find one thing, one genre-leading title or team capable of making one.' Mission accomplished with Pokemon Go, but more deals are likely to come. "Although we're not in a race to deploy capital, I don't think we can sit back and watch and see what happens,' Ward said.
Bloomberg
25-03-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Behind the $3.5 Billion ‘Pokémon' Deal, a Consolidation Strategy
Scopely Inc.'s $3.5 billion purchase of the hit game Pokémon Go this month is part of larger strategy to build a business through acquisitions as the video-game industry overall struggles. Scopley's goal, according to Co-Chief Executive Officer Javier Ferreira, is to have a portfolio of successful titles that can support each other in an $178 billion industry that was essentially flat last year. While mobile games like Pokémon Go are at the core of Scopely's business, the company is developing or considering acquiring PC and console titles. Ferreira said massively multiplayer online role-playing games are 'interesting,' although he declined to say if the company was making one.
