Niantic recently announced that a new anime based on their augmented reality game Ingress is set to debut on Netflix later this year.
Before their release of the renowned Pokemon Go game, Niantic's first venture into augmented-reality gaming was with Ingress.
The upcoming anime series is titled Ingress: The Animation. According to a recent report by Variety, Fuji TV is teaming up with Netflix to release the anime. Variety's report details an interview with Niantic’s founder John Hanke on the topic of the anime. Here's what Hanke had to say:
The anime peers into the Ingress universe and allows viewers to see a part of that universe that is uniquely expressed.
There will be familiar characters and situations that have become famous in the game, but they will be experienced through a fresh interpretation with new characters, new actors. Think of it like a reboot of a superhero franchise.
Ingress will be lead by two main characters, Makoto and Sarah, imbued with other-worldly powers. Makoto and Sarah must work as a team to solve an unspecified problem all whilst avoiding a mysterious third character named Jack. As per usual an evil corporation is also part of the mix, they wish to use the exotic matter for their own nefarious purposes.
The anime will also be used as a launching pad for the upcoming sequel to the first Ingress game, Ingress Prime. The afformentioned corporation heavily feature in Ingress Prime.
Ingress Prime is already available to sign up for - and has been since the game's trailer dropped back in December of last year. Hanke explained that Niantic will be using what they've learned from both Ingress and Pokemon Go to improve upon the upcoming sequel:
We’re trying to take those lessons and make Ingress more accessible. Ingress is a deliberately obscure game. We want to make sure people can make their way through that and get to the actual gameplay. We want to make that smoother for Ingress Prime.
Both Ingress' anime series and AR sequel will be releasing in October. What do you think about this announcement?