Niantic wants to release major Prime update for Ingress in 2018

Niantic plans to release a major update to its game Ingress in 2018 under the name Prime. The developer, who also has Pokémon Go to his name, wants to attract new players through the update. An Ingress anime series is also in the works.

Niantic CEO John Hanke said in an interview with The Verge that the focus on Ingress had waned somewhat after the release of Pokémon Go, but that the game’s development team is now back to full steam. Ingress Prime must be using a new client. Niantic uses the same platform as with Pokémon Go, which most likely refers to Unity. A new look and interface are also part of the release.

The new version should be more accessible to new players. Hanke says, “Ingress is very hard to grasp at first and only gets interesting once you connect with another group of players.” He goes on to say that he considers Ingress to be the “spiritual core” of Niantic and that it served as the basis for the development of features in Pokémon Go.

The game also gets a new storyline. As part of that, Niantic is working on an Ingress anime series. The company does not provide details on the exact content or release of the series, other than that it takes place in the world of the game. Niantic has also partnered with Warner Bros. involved in a new game called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. That’s an ar game in the Harry Potter universe. Niantic has created a separate page for Ingress Prime with an option to sign up.

Ingress (left) and Ingress Prime, via The Verge

Ingress Prime Trailer