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The Pokémon brand is fascinating. What began as a humble Game Boy game has crossed generations to become one of the most culturally significant brands in the world.

But there’s more to this story than nostalgia. Behind the scenes, Pokémon Go has amassed vast amounts of sensitive geolocation data — putting its sale to a Saudi-owned company under the microscope.

Whether you're a diehard fan or just somewhat curious about the intersection of Pokémon, business, and geopolitics — this is a story worth paying attention to.

🎧 Bonus Podcast

As a special bonus this week, Stefan sat down with Michael Thompson from the Fear and Greed business news podcast.

This ​12-minute discussion​ goes into chasing creatures, trading cards, nostalgia, the enduring appeal of Pokémon's empire, and what it all means for investors.

Let's go 👇

How I lost my dignity (and caught a Blastoise)

It was July 2016, and I — like so many others at the time — was a part-time Uber driver.

It was late Saturday night, and I had stopped off at Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor Pier for a break.

And, well…something else.

You see, I had spotted something on my map.

This wasn’t the little guy either, it was the big guy. ​Blastoise​, in the flesh.

He was right out there by the lighthouse at the end of the pier, passing a collection of restaurants and docks. I got out of my car and, I’m not embarrassed to say, ran to catch him.

(OK, maybe it was more of an inconspicuous jog, like I was a perfectly sane adult who was just late to a meetup.)

But I wasn’t. I was a lifetime Pokémon fan, and this was an incredibly rare one to find.

This was the dawn of the Pokémon Go craze.

Chasing nostalgia 🏃‍♂️

Like millions of others, I first got into Pokémon when good ol’ mom bought twelve-year-old me a shiny new red Nintendo Game Boy and matching ​Pokémonn Red version​.

Eighteen years later the country was once again hit with Pokémon fever. Parks were no longer the domain of young moms and kids skipping school.

Now, they were hunting grounds for dozens of local Pokémon trainers (humans who train and battle Pokémon). Which, at the time, felt like virtually everyone in the country.

Shopping centers were swarmed, malls bursted at the seams, and businesses crowded with players grabbing local PokéStops. Nightly reports lit up local news channels with spotlights on the craze.

No matter where you went, people had their phones out. It was surreal. It was not an overstatement to say that nothing like it had ever happened in human history.

Of course, the weeks went on and the craze died down — well, maybe for you. The app continued to nurture a very dedicated fan base…

…That is, until a few weeks ago, when Pokémon Go publisher Niantic announced it was selling its entire games division.

But before we get to that, we need to talk about the Pokémon brand as a whole.

Pokémon is thriving

First, a quick breakdown.

​The Pokémon Company​ (TPC) is the organization that manages all things Pokemon.

But it's really three companies together that jointly manage responsibility of the brand (reportedly an even one-third split):

You may not realize it, but this combined brand is currently ranked #7 on the list of the top globally licensed brands–

TPC has dropped a bit from their record-setting 2022 of $11.6 billion, due to a ​correction in the toy market​ and the lack of a major game release (their typical mainline release schedule being every 2-3 years).

An extremely well-diversified brand

But remember, video games are only part of the story.

During the pandemic, the ​Pokémon TCG​ (Trading Card Game) went from a moderately successful kids card game to alternative investment phenomenon, with record-breaking sales and some cards now selling for millions (the world's most valuable card was acquired by ​Logan Paul​).

​Pancake Analytics​ ran an analysis in 2021 and found that some card sets, such as the ​Base Set 1st Edition​, had an average two-year growth rate of 80%.

Pinpointing exactly what has allowed the Pokemon TCG to stay so strong is hard, but ​analysis​ points to scarcity (the Pokemon TCG does a limited run on certain cards, especially those connected to special events), media attention, and nostalgia.

The power of nostalgia can power brands across generations.

Nintendo understands this very well. (Heck, just look at Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong.)

The founding of Pokémon Go

Pokémon Go was developed in 2016 by Bay Area location-tech company ​Niantic​, in partnership with The Pokémon Company and Nintendo.

Up until that point, Niantic was a little-known AR developer and the creator of ​Ingress​ — the predecessor to Pokémon Go.

TPC wasn’t new to the mobile market either, but all their previous apps were duds that barely covered the cost of development.

Fast-forward to 2025 and Niantic’s money machine is still going strong with tens of millions of active daily users, and an estimated $1 billion in annual revenue.

That’s what made the next part so surprising.

The Saudis just bought Pokémon Go

Last month, Pokémon Go was sold to game publisher Scopely for ​$3.5b​. That’s a big acquisition.

Scopely was purchased in 2023 ​Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund​ (specifically, through their Savvy Games Group)

Scopely didn't buy Niantic outright, but acquired their entire gaming division.

So along with Pokémon Go, they now own Niantic’s other AR titles such as Monster Hunter Now, Pikmin Bloom, and Wayfarer, an app that allows players to submit real-world Wayspot locations for AR games.

This makes Pokémon Go’s sale one of the largest known transfers of sensitive location & behavioral data from one country to another in history.

Another that comes to mind is the ​Yahoo attacks​ from Russian hackers between 2013-2016. That was 3 billion users, compared to Pokemon Go’s 200m+ users.

Now to be clear, a public sale which includes sensitive user information is not the same as a data breach.

However, the transfer of sensitive user information to an entity directly connected to a government is incredibly unique.

Scopely says they intend to keep Niantic’s entire gaming division ​running independently​. But Scopely is known for hyper-aggressive monetization in its games. Most acquisitions lead to a slew of new monetization methods designed to drain players’ wallets.

And that's to say nothing of the privacy concerns.

A shaky history of privacy

Whatever you believe about the intentions of Scopely, Savvy, or Saudi Arabia, it’s worth noting that the amount of sensitive information stored and owned by the Pokemon Go team is enormous and holds a potential security risk.

Early on in the game’s release, players discovered that the game requested access to your entire Google account — including your contacts, calendar, Gmail, and even your entire Chrome search history.

The issue was promptly fixed by Niantic. But the negative sentiment lingered.

A later deep dive by YouTuber and blogger Bryan Lunduke went semi-viral for its ​exploration of interesting facts​ related to Niantic and its connections with the CIA .

TL;DR:

It’s hard not to find that last point funny, as much as it could be a red flag when taken together with everything else.

Is there a real connection? Does someone in the CIA just really like Pokemon? No one knows for certain. But Lunduke later made a follow-up video confirming his original deep dive with ​additional evidence​.

The larger point is this: location-based data is incredibly valuable to countries who are avidly working to bolster their digital surveillance and security in the information age.

Niantic Games Senior Product Director ​Michael Steranka ​confirmed in the same interview that all data is properly secured on US servers:

Make of that what you will, it remains unclear how Scopely or the Saudis plan to use that data if at all (or how it was already used by other parties).

What's next for Niantic?

With the acquisition, Niantic’s platform division has branched off into its own standalone company, ​Niantic Spatial​.

The new company will continue to be led by CEO John Hanke, who has been quietly shifting focus to geospatial tech developed for AI.

From his announcement on ​LinkedIn​:

But this still doesn’t explain why Niantic sold its cash cow. Why not just continue to support Pokémon Go while building out Niantic Spatial from within?

The answer is simple: We're entering a slow period for gaming startups.

Gaming developers are in a rough patch. With multiple studio closures in recent years, and the pandemic surge behind them, Niantic may have seen the writing on the wall.

Hanke knows that the future is in geo-focused technology, and they’re making a bold move cashing out while the getting is good.

Where does Pokémon go from here?

With Pokémon Go in new hands, the future is very bright for the world’s favorite pocket monsters.

(Yes that's right — Pokémon is a contraction of “pocket monsters.”)

TPC has a new console game on the way in ​Pokémon Legends Z-A​ releasing for the Nintendo Switch and the new ​Switch 2​.

From video games and trading cards to movies, shows, and a slew of merchandise, Pokémon continues to grow & capture the attention of new generations, and cement itself as one of the world's most valuable brands.

Even if it’s hard to reach the level of success of say, Disney, it’s amazing that a brand that began as a black-and-white Game Boy game has come this far — and shows such strong potential for the future.

I wouldn't bet against Pokémon. This brand as strong as ever, and always worth keeping an eye on. 🐱

Disclosures