Trainers,

I’m Ed Wu and I have the privilege of leading the Pokémon GO team at Niantic. Today I wanted to share some important news: Pokémon GO will be joining Scopely, a video-game developer and publisher home to a wide range of leading games and talented teams around the world.

As it’s always important to me, and our entire game team, that our community understands and is excited by the long-term vision for this game, I want to share why I believe a partnership with Scopely will be a positive step for all of you and the game’s future.

First, Pokémon GO is more than just a game to me; it’s my life’s work. I’ve been part of Niantic since 2012 and deeply involved in many of our projects. In 2015, I was the original engineer on the Pokémon GO codebase, and in 2016, launched the game, working around the clock to make sure that hundreds of millions of Trainers could discover Pokémon in the real world together. Like many of you, I have fond memories from 2016, such as bringing home an alpha build to my then two-year-old daughter who intuitively and enthusiastically became the first young Trainer to ever throw a Poké Ball in our game. As an engineer, I’ve watched the code I’ve written for Pokémon GO change people’s lives drastically for the better. That includes my own family, from relatives improving their health from exercising while playing the game, to hearing so many members of our community recount how they’ve met the love of their lives through playing Pokémon GO and experiencing the incredible real-life community it fosters.

That’s why I’m very excited about today’s announcement. Here are a few reasons why I am confident about the road ahead: