It’s the transmedia synergy you didn’t know you wanted but you’re getting it anyway: Niantic announced the release of its Ingress TV show this week. It’s a CG-animated series landing on Netflix.
“Developed in collaboration with Fuji TV and Craftar Studios in Japan, the anime merges Ingress Agents, gameplay and narrative into a global sci-fi adventure thriller and features music from a number of artists including award-winning UK rock band, Alt-J. […] In Ingress: The Animation, Exotic Matter (XM) is leaking into the world through Portals disguised as real-world landmarks scattered across the globe. XM influences people in different ways with some even gaining a super mental power. The show focuses on the main characters Makoto and Sarah who have been impacted by the Exotic Matter. Makoto can touch things and see their history, while Sarah can see certain aspects of time and space. The duo end up on the run together away from a third, mysterious character named Jack.”
MMO players will recall that Ingress (and its relatively recent reboot Ingress Prime) was Niantic’s first MMOARG and easily the most popular mobile augmented reality game before the company launched Pokemon Go. Players pick a side in the global techno war and run around the real world capturing points in augmented reality, which is probably going to be significantly more compelling in anime than in real life. I guess we’ll find out!
