Pokémon Stride will “by no methodology” accept pop-up adverts, and your place recordsdata couldn’t be shared with the Saudi authorities

Pokémon Go creator Niantic has elaborated on the game’s future following its upcoming acquisition by Monopoly Go producer Scopely, which is backed by the Saudi-affiliated Savvy Games Group, in a transaction valued at $3.5bn.

In an extensive video interview with former Pokémon Go YouTuber TrainerTips, senior product manager Michael Steranka tackled several key concerns from the game’s extensive community regarding the impending sale.

When questioned if Pokémon Go would ever incorporate pop-up advertisements to generate extra revenue, or share player location data with either Scopely or Savvy, Steranka firmly responded with a negative.
“That will never occur, I’m stating that right now,” Steranka remarked in relation to the concept of pop-up advertising being displayed in-game.

Regarding player data, including scanned locations, this information will still be accessible to Niantic even post-sale, but it will not leave the company’s US-based servers.

“Any information players continue to scan or submit via [Niantic’s location-adding tool] Wayfarer or otherwise, that data is still shared back with the Niantic Spatial team. However, all that information remains fully encrypted and safeguarded in the methods we’ve been employing until now – which is honestly top-tier,” Steranka continued.

“Contrary to common belief, we don’t retain any player data beyond what’s necessary to actually operate the game; everything is completely anonymized and stored on US servers. This is in accordance with regulatory standards to ensure your data is as secure as possible. None of this is going to change.”

When asked specifically if the data would be shared further by Pokémon Go’s new owners, Steranka replied no.

“It won’t be shared with Savvy or anyone else,” he stated.

Discussing the broader context of the deal, Steranka noted that it had been “in progress for a while now” and made sense to separate the two facets of Niantic – the one focused on gaming and the other on location mapping.

“As you and many community members can undoubtedly discern, even from an outsider’s viewpoint, Niantic has always exhibited a bit of a dual identity,” Steranka mentioned.

“It naturally made sense to capitalize on this [geolocation] platform that became dedicated to serving those particular functions, but I must admit it did also lead to competing priorities, or more often too many priorities for the team to concentrate on, or invest in.

“In terms of what’s beneficial for Pokémon Go, this is definitely among the best outcomes for the game,” Steranka expressed, adding that he hoped it would permit the game’s development team to solely focus on what is best for the product.

While the development team will “still maintain complete autonomy in our games and the decisions we make,” there will likely be “less emphasis on scanning” in the future, Steranka noted.

Pokémon Go’s mission to encourage outdoor activity will “not change,” Steranka emphasized.

Regarding potential additional monetization strategies for Pokémon Go in the future, Steranka asserted that Scopely recognized how successful the game already was.