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.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.