Likelihood of Niantic being bought out?
Does anyone think there is a possibility this could happen? Could Nintendo/Pokémon buyout Niantic and keep most of the staff while adding to it and adding some vision to the game via a new developer?
Answers
Not a chance, Niantic will not sell this out unless they see a huge drop coming and permanently. They still intend on doing a lot but when this game can no longer be saved by them they may look to sell. Niantic literally is trying to kick up in the world yet pokemon go is making so much money they can not just give it out without milking it. If this just popped into your mind, don't overthink it. They will stay the developer for as long as this game is around and relevant.
Probably not, because this is uncharted territory there will be different opinions on what it is worth and how long it can stay at that worth. This is easily the most all over the map app on the app store. It can be quiet and then it can be the loudest thing on the market, other businesses will make offers but most likely Niantic might think it will still be worth it. This game will leave for years just from Japan..... They absolutely love Pokemon no matter what, if pokemon lets someone slap their name on a product Japan will eat it up.
Anything has a price.
But pokemon go is very profitable for Ninatic, so the price for it would be very high.
I'm not sure why Nintendo/Pokemon would meet that high price, unless they think they could increase the profit enough to get thier investment back OR unless they think Ninatic is doing harm to the overall brand.
In the first case, I wouldn't expect any FREE player based improvements if they were trying to increase profitability.
In the second case, It might be too late.
Not a chance, Legendary hype will end(probably after MewTwo) they will most likely let the game slow down a bit and crash hard into gameplay they could improve. I honestly believe so small tweaks during fall like they did last year. they rolled it all out slowly, but Mid september came buddys(excellent addition) October came both the introduction of pokestop streaks and the first Event(halloween) through that more events blossomed. at the tail end of Winter Generation 2 came out. I honestly believe if they keep this same pattern they will keep making money. Minor improvements and just enough incentive to play.... with more and more people bringing it up on different forums i believe we are so close to questing.... For real that would be equal if not more incentive as the introduction to log in everyday such as the pokestop streak. People forget how much they slowly add at a time.... They know how to keep people interested i.e. How many people did you see out and around your area during GO fest?