After it became public that Pokémon GO and other games from Niantic have changed ownership, many fans began to worry about the future of the game. Now a developer provides initial reassurance.
Should fans be worried? The Senior Product Director of Pokémon GO, Michael Steranka, commented on the future of the game following the takeover of the mobile hit in an interview. He specifically addresses the question of monetization. Previously, some fans had expressed concerns as the new owner has a history of strong monetization methods with titles like Monopoly Go (via Reddit).
According to Steranka, there is no need to worry about that. There should be “neither now nor ever” intrusive advertisements in the game or restricted playtimes, he claims. He states clearly: “We will not build intrusive advertising or anything like that into our games.”
Here you can learn more about the season “Mighty and Masterful”:
First relief
What does the developer say about the new owners? While some players immediately think of strong monetization methods from games like Monopoly Go when they hear the name Scopely, Senior Product Director Michael Steranka has a different opinion about his new bosses.
In an interview with polygon.com, he says: “[…] Scopely has really recognized how unique this game is, and they have even told us that they would be foolish to try to change the recipe that has made this game such a big hit and success. […] I want to emphasize once again that Scopely operates as a company in a way that allows all of their teams to make the right decisions for their games. And that [editor’s note: intrusive advertising and playtime restrictions] is not something that we believe would be right for Pokémon Go.”
The monetization of Pokémon GO is therefore set to stay with the known methods, and you likely won’t have to watch ads for free Poké Balls in the future either.
What does the developer say about data security? After the acquisition of Pokémon GO by Scopely, some fans expressed concerns (via Reddit) that their data could now fall into the hands of other companies, especially since Scopely has belonged to the Saudi Arabian Savvy Games Group since 2023 (via www.gamersglobal.de). Here too, the developer provides reassurance:
We do not sell player data to third parties, period. We use location data only to operate the game, and we store all location data necessary for operating the game on servers in the USA, and we adhere to all incredibly strict regulatory best practices to protect that data as well as possible. So if you are concerned that this data may go to other places that you might not know or trust, I hope that what I am sharing with you today helps alleviate those concerns, because that is absolutely not something that is happening today and not something that will happen in the future.
Senior Product Director of Pokémon GO, Michael Steranka, via polygon.com
Even if the developer tries to reassure the players, the Pokémon GO community is concerned about the change of ownership. Especially with a sum of 3.5 billion US dollars, it is questionable how the mobile game will recoup that money without changing the monetization. Other companies are also trying to make profits with Pokémon: Company brings kitchenware in Pokémon style that is too nice to use
