In one of the more surprising transactions in the mobile gaming market, the community-driven App, Poke Radar has been purchased for $500 000 by Glue Mobile. Glu is one of the biggest players in the mobile market with a wide variety of titles that mix original IPs like Diner Dash and branded celebrity title IPs such as Gordon Ramsey Dash, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood and more.
Unlike most Pokemon Go tracking apps, Poke Radar was able to keep up when Niantic went shutting down various tracking applications because it expressly doesn't hook into Pokemon Go's API. Instead, it uses reports from users to know where spawn points are located, when they have happened and a series of algorithm's based on observational data that give it a purported a 95% accuracy according to the developers. With Pokemon Go being still one of the most profitable apps, it appears Glu made them an offer they couldn't refuse.
That doesn't mean that the creators are abandoning Poke Radar, however. According to the press release sent out, the original team will be staying on board and working with the Glu Mobile team to further improve the app.
“I and the rest of the Poke Radar team couldn’t be more excited about joining the Glu Mobile team. We built Poke Radar with a lean team from the ground up and are excited to see what the future brings with the support of such a respected publisher behind us.” --- Poke Radar Co-Founder Braydon Batungbacal
Glu expressed optimism as one would expect. Niccolo de Masi, the Chairman and CEO of Glu stated, "Poke Radar is a unique property which was built swiftly and in a nimble manner. I look forward to the significant contributions we expect this team to make at Glu."
Poke Radar is available for free on browsers and is also available on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch for free as an ad support app.
What do you think of Poke Radar's purchase? Is it being overvalued? Do you think that Niantic will find a way to shut it down? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
