Tag: ingress

The startup that began its life with the search engine giant is leaving its parent company.

The internal startup at Google, Niantic Labs, which is best known for having developed the augmented reality game app called Ingress, is going to step out on its own to become a company unto itself.

The announcement was made by Niantic Labs, this week, having first been mentioned on its Google+ page.

The announcement explained that Niantic Labs intends to head off on its own so that it will bring its “unique blend of exploration and fun to even bigger audiences.” That said, just because it won’t be a part of Google, anymore, it doesn’t mean that the two companies won’t be continuing their relationship. In fact, the creator of the Ingress augmented reality game app has already named Google as one of its prime backers and collaborators, “along with some amazing new partners.”

Aside from Ingress, Niantic Labs has also developed another mobile augmented reality game app.

Back in 2012, Niantic had initially launched a mobile app that it called Field Trip. That application was created for Android device users. It functioned by assisting them in being able to discover nearby places of interest. Not long after, it put out its first version of the Ingress AR technology based game. In that app, players choose to be a part of one of two different factions, through which they are supposed to explore locations in the real world and help to claim them for their side.

According to the announcement from earlier this week, that game has already been downloaded over 12 million times by users of Android and iOS based mobile devices. Moreover, it has managed to bring over 250,000 people to attend various types of events that have been held worldwide.

Earlier in 2015, the developer also put out another augmented reality game app called Endgame: Ancient Truth. That app continued on for a number of months and linked in with the broader science-fiction based Endgame universe, including the books that were written by James Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton. The future plans of Niantic Labs, free of Google, are not yet publicly known.

The recent launch of Endgame: The Calling is based on the first of the popular three novel series.

In January, it was announced that Google was joining up with James Frey, the author of a highly popular series of novels, into a project that would create an interactive augmented reality mobile game experience based on those books.

This effort was the next step in a broader AR technology based game experience that expands beyond Ingress.

The Ingress augmented reality platform has proven to be quite a popular experience provided by Niantic Labs, but now Google is clearly stepping this up by creating some new products that will also use AR. Niantic Labs has also taken the step to share some of the tools that it uses in order to give third party developers the opportunity to be able to create some of their own titles, as well.

Now, the Endgame: The Calling augmented reality app has been launched as a highly interactive game.

The concept of this AR game is to create an entire world based on the novels in the series by Frey. Niantic Labs is seeking to create puzzles in real life, as well as treasure hunts and the clues that are necessary for those, in addition to web videos and other components that can help to create a complementing experience out of each of the novels. For example, when it comes to Endgame, there is a website that links to the story which is called Ancient Societies. That provides you additional information from the lead characters within the story that the reader is enjoying. This is a unique and refreshing way to tell a story in a highly interactive way. That said, it has yet to be seen whether or not publishers and authors will be interested in getting on board in order to design similar types of mobile game experiences in the future, and whether or not augmented reality will be the type of technology that will interest readers who would like to play mobile games that are based on the stories that they have come to greatly enjoy.