Niantic's Ingress will get major gameplay update in 2018

Niantic, the game developer known for blockbuster mobile game Pokemon Go is going back to its roots for its next game. Last month the company announced their upcoming Harry Potter AR and now has revisited their original AR title, Ingress. Ingress was launched back in 2012 and has since been downloaded more than 20 million times across both Android and iOS. In some ways, the game was really ahead of its time, But now it is looking visually dated. Niantic is aware of it and recently revealed to the Verge that it’s working on a significant update to the game. The revamped sci-fi game will be called Ingress Prime and it will come with a more polished, up-to-date design.

The game is scheduled to launch in 2018 and will share its underpinnings with Pokemon Go. This will not only let it share upgrades and fight cheaters but make use of slicker augmented reality frameworks like ARKit and ARCore. Another big change is that game will be easier for newcomers to join in, the current version being cryptic like an exclusive club that depends on finding team-mates. There will also be more detailed instructions, story mechanics changes and streamlined modern graphics.

While it can be argued that Ingress will most likely continue to live in the shadow of Pokémon (and eventually Harry Potter) AR games as it doesn’t really have the associated brand recognition to bring people in. However, the improvements coming with Prime could keep it relevant for a longer time, making sure that the game isn't just limited to hardcore fans.