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Pokémon Go will "not now, not ever" feature intrusive ads after sale to Scopely, director says

by Danny Craig · 3/19/25, 3:56 PM
Pokémon Go will "not now, not ever" feature intrusive ads after sale to Scopely, director says
Scopely

Following the sale of Niantic's Pokémon Go to mobile gaming giant Scopely earlier this week, the game's director has confirmed that it will not include intrusive ads or other widely disliked practices common in free-to-play mobile games.

The details:

  • Earlier this week, Niantic announced that it would sell its third-party games business to Scopely for $3.5 billion, including Pokémon Go. With the acquisition, some players have expressed concerns about the game's future, particularly its monetization, as Scopely's titles often rely heavily on in-game ads and microtransactions.

  • In an interview with Polygon, Pokémon Go senior product director Michael Steranka was asked if the deal means that changes will be made to the game to encourage players to spend money by limiting activities or forcing intrusive ads on those who refuse. Steranka dismissed the idea, saying, "That is not happening in Pokémon Go - not now, not ever."

  • He went on to explain that after speaking with Scopely, it was made clear that the company “really recognises how unique this game is,” and that it would be “foolish” to change its current formula. “I just really want to reiterate Scopely as a company, the way that they operate is they give all of their teams the agency to make the decisions that’s right for their games,” Steranka said. “And that is not something that we feel would ever be right for Pokémon Go.”

  • Steranka also addressed concerns regarding player data potentially being sold to third-party vendors, stating that it doesn’t sell the data “full stop.” He explained that location data is used strictly for the game to function and that the data is stored securely on US-based servers in line with “incredibly strict” regulations.

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