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Scopely
American video game developer and publisher From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Scopely, Inc. (/ˈskoʊpli/ SKOHP-lee) is a privately-owned American mobile video game developer and publisher.[2] The company is headquartered in Culver City, California, with offices across North America, Central America, EMEA and Asia, with its largest location in Barcelona, Spain.[3] It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Savvy Games Group, an entity founded and managed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.[4]
As of 2024, Scopely ranked as the #2 mobile video game developer in the world, and #1 in the U.S., by revenue.[5] Scopely's most profitable and well-known games include MONOPOLY GO!, Pokémon GO, and Pikmin Bloom, the latter two of which originated from Niantic's gaming profile following a 2025 acquisition.[6] Scopely has completed more than ten acquisitions.[7]
In addition to acquiring gaming companies, Scopely maintains internal game development studios, and has partnered with external studios to create free-to-play games.[8][9] Scopely develops both original games, and those based on existing entertainment brands.[10]
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History
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Founding and growth
Scopely was founded in 2011 in Los Angeles, California, by Walter Driver, Ankur Bulsara, Eric Futoran and Eytan Elbaz.[11][12] Previously, Elbaz co-founded Applied Semantics, which was acquired by Google in 2003, and Bulsara was a software developer at MySpace.[12]
In 2014, former Disney Interactive and Electronic Arts executive Javier Ferreira joined Scopely.[13] Former Disney Interactive executive Tim O'Brien joined in 2014 as chief revenue officer.[14]
In October 2017, Scopely announced the opening of an office in Barcelona, Spain.[15]
In June 2019, the company shared it had surpassed $1 billion in lifetime revenues.[16]
In July 2021, the company invested $50 million in three games studios in Europe to co-create games and invest in developers.[17]
Savvy Games Group announced its intent to acquire Scopely for $4.9 billion on April 5, 2023.[4][18][19] While this acquisition was completed, Scopely remains an independently operated company, headquartered in Culver City, California, part of the Savvy portfolio.[20][21]
In January 2025, Scopely contributed to the FireAid benefit concert, produced by Irving Azoff, as a presenting sponsor to help wildfire relief efforts in the company's founding city of Los Angeles. Fundraising efforts from the benefit raised more than $100 million.[22][23]
Acquisitions
In July 2014, Scopely acquired Space Inch's Disco Bees.[24]
In May 2019, the company acquired Dublin-based DIGIT Game Studios, its collaborator on the mobile 4X strategy game Star Trek Fleet Command.[25]
In January 2020, Scopely purchased FoxNext Games Los Angeles and its RPG game MARVEL Strike Force, along with Cold Iron Studios, from The Walt Disney Company for an undisclosed amount.[26] Scopely later sold Cold Iron Studios to Daybreak Game Company.[27]
In April 2020, the company acquired PierPlay game studio, its collaborator on the mobile word game Scrabble GO.[28]
In October 2021, Scopely acquired Game Show Network's online gaming division (GSN Games) from Sony in a $1 billion cash and stock deal. Sony Pictures took a minority stake in the company as a result.[29][30]
In 2022, the company acquired the mobile party battle royale game Stumble Guys from Kitka Games.[31]
In June 2023, Scopely acquired Scotland-based Tag Games studio.[32]
Niantic
On March 12, 2025, Niantic, Inc. announced plans to sell the majority of its video game division to Scopely in a reported $3.5 billion deal, including games Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, and Monster Hunter Now, and companion apps Campfire and Wayfarer.[33] The deal was completed on May 29, 2025.[34] Products Ingress and Peridot would remain under Niantic's ownership, under a new split-off entity named Niantic Spatial Inc.[33][35]
Recognition
In August 2015, Scopely ranked #9 on Inc.'s List of the 5,000 Fastest-Growing Companies in America, and #1 in the U.S.[36]
In May 2024, Scopely was recognized by Time magazine on their annual TIME100 list recognizing the "100 Most Influential Companies in the World."[37] In June 2025, the company made the list for the second consecutive year.[38]
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Game development
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Early years
In January 2012, Scopely launched its first free-to-play mobile game Dice With Buddies,[39] followed that year by Jewels With Buddies[40] and Bubble Galaxy With Buddies,[41] which debuted as the #1 free app in the App Store.[42] In April 2013, Scopely launched Mini Golf MatchUp.[8][43] The game was #1 for free apps in the App Store in 49 countries[8] and the #1 app on both the iPhone and the iPad in the U.S.[44]
In September 2013, the company launched Wordly, a spelling game that reached #1 on the top free apps chart in the App Store, and was the first game with single-player mode developed by Scopely.[45]
In November 2013, Scopely launched the Skee-ball game Skee-ball Arcade, which reached #1 overall in the Apple App Store.[46]
Partnerships
In April 2015, Scopely partnered with Hasbro to launch the only officially licensed Yahtzee game, Yahtzee With Buddies, on iOS and Android.[47] The game saw more than 1 million downloads in its first four days.[48][49]
In May 2015, the company signed a multi-year partnership deal with Ireland's DIGIT Game Studios.[50] The collaboration led to the 2019 acquisition of the studio.[51]
In August 2015, Scopely partnered with The Walking Dead series creator Robert Kirkman and Skybound Entertainment to create The Walking Dead: Road to Survival, the first free-to-play mobile game based on the graphic novels. The game saw 4 million downloads in its first week, was a Top 25 Grossing Game in 17 countries, and became the 6th consecutive #1 game released by Scopely.[49][52] In 2018, the game reached 40 million downloads since its release.[53]
In 2016, the company partnered with Sony Pictures TV to launch Wheel of Fortune: Free Play, based on the television game show.[54] The same year, Scopely released Dice With Ellen, a Yahtzee-style dice game featuring television host Ellen DeGeneres.[55]
In 2017, Scopely announced a partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment and launched the match-3 game WWE Champions.[56] It won a Webby Award for People's Voice in the sports games category.[57]
By 2018, the company had four top-grossing games: WWE Champions, The Walking Dead: Road to Survival, Wheel of Fortune: Free Play, and Yahtzee With Buddies.[58]
In November 2018, Scopely launched Star Trek Fleet Command, partnering with CBS Interactive and DIGIT Game Studios.[59] The game went on to surpass $50 million in revenue in its first four months.[60]
In December 2018, Scopely launched Looney Tunes World of Mayhem, a multi-player role-playing game featuring Looney Tunes characters licensed from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, developed in partnership with Aquiris Game Studio.[9][61] The game was downloaded more than one million times on its launch day.[62]
In 2020, Scopely launched Scrabble GO.[63] In June 2020, it was announced that the game was the "best launch ever for a mobile word game", based on figures of over 2.5 million people are playing daily for an average of 100 minutes each day.[64]
In April 2023, the company launched Monopoly Go!,[65] which became the biggest mobile game of 2023, generating $1 billion in revenue that year.[66] By 2025, the mobile game went on to become the fastest in history to gross $3 billion.[67]
In February 2024, Scopely ended its publishing partnership with Global Worldwide game studio on the title Kingdom Maker and redeployed the Scopely team supporting the project to other games.[68]
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Funding
In 2013, Scopely raised a seed round of $8.5 million,[40] led by Anthem Venture Partners, with participation from The Chernin Group, Greycroft Venture Partners, and New Enterprise Associates.[69] In 2014, Scopely raised a $35 million Series A funding round, led by Evolution Media.[46][70] In 2016, Scopely raised $55 million in Series B funding.[56] In 2017, the company announced $60 million in Series C funding, led by Revolution Growth,[12] and then raised an additional $100 million from Greenspring Associates in 2018.[58]
In 2019, the company announced $200 million in Series D financing, valuing the company at $1.7 billion.[71] In March 2020, the company announced another $200 million in Series D financing, valuing the company at $1.9 billion.[72]
In October 2020, Scopely announced $340 million in Series E financing, valuing the company at $3.3 billion.[73]
References
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External links
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