Pokémon Go creator Niantic is set to secure a $3.9 billion valuation following a $200 million round of funding, according to The Wall Street Journal. The $200 million round of funding is expected to be coming from IVP, Samsung, and aXiomatic Gaming LLC.
Niantic is currently gearing up to release a Harry Potter AR project called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. And Niantic is also working on the Real World Platform for augmented reality development:
Pokémon Go is still one of the most popular titles on the app store two years later. And the game was the second top gross mobile game as of October 2018 based on Superdata’s stats. And Niantic is also planning to develop games on behalf of other franchises as part of a revenue-sharing model.
After this round of funding is closed and the valuation is set, Niantic will be valued more than mobile gaming companies such as Roblox and Unity. However, it is behind Fortnite creator Epic Games — which is valued at $15 billion following a $1.25 billion round of funding.
Why is Samsung investing in Niantic? It is believed that Samsung wants to have Niantic develop games that would be exclusive for Galaxy devices. It is also rumored that a feature would be developed in the Harry Potter game where the Galaxy Note 9 S Pen could be used as a magic wand. This feature may be added as a variation of the upcoming Harry Potter game with other features for Samsung devices. Samsung also recently partnered with Epic Games for the launch of Fortnite on Android with the Galaxy Note 9
