Following Scopely's acquisition of Niantic's games division,  Pokemon GO's Senior Product Director, Michael Steranka, has addressed key concerns within the game's community.  With eight years of experience on the project, Steranka aims to reassure players about the future of the beloved augmented reality mobile game.

Scopely, the world's second-largest mobile game developer, is known for titles like Monopoly GO, the biggest mobile game of 2023, and Marvel Strike Force. They also developed Pikmin Bloom and recently took over Monster Hunter Now. This acquisition understandably has some Pokemon GO fans nervous about the future of their favorite game.

In a recent interview with Polygon, Steranka aimed to alleviate fan anxieties. He emphasized Scopely's shared values with Niantic and expressed confidence in their ability to evolve Pokemon GO as originally envisioned.  He also directly addressed the prominent concern of potential intrusive advertisements, stating emphatically, "That is not happening in Pokémon Go — not now, not ever."

Steranka further elaborated, "We will not be integrating any obtrusive ads into our games…it's simply not appropriate for Pokémon GO."  Another major concern revolved around player data privacy. Steranka reassured players, "We do not sell player data to third parties, period. We adhere to the strictest regulatory best practices to protect that data."

Steranka also confirmed The Pokemon Company's strong support for the Scopely acquisition, highlighting their continued involvement as a hands-on partner to ensure authentic Pokemon GO experiences.

While navigating the transition, Niantic is also addressing recent in-game issues. A glitch during the Catch Mastery event significantly hampered players' ability to catch Shiny Omanyte and Shiny Kabuto. Niantic is considering compensation for affected players due to the unfulfilled promise of increased shiny spawn rates. This incident unfortunately compounded existing player frustration with the game's recurring bugs and crashes.