<s>
Ingress	B-Application
(	O
or	O
Ingress	B-Application
Prime	O
)	O
is	O
an	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
(	O
AR	O
)	O
mobile	B-Application
game	I-Application
developed	O
and	O
published	O
by	O
Niantic	O
for	O
Android	B-Application
and	O
iOS	B-Application
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
first	O
released	O
on	O
December	O
14	O
,	O
2013	O
,	O
for	O
Android	B-Application
devices	O
and	O
then	O
for	O
iOS	B-Application
devices	O
on	O
July	O
14	O
,	O
2014	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
mobile	B-Application
app	I-Application
has	O
been	O
downloaded	O
more	O
than	O
20	O
million	O
times	O
worldwide	O
as	O
of	O
November	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ingress	B-Application
uses	O
the	O
mobile	O
device	O
GPS	O
to	O
locate	O
and	O
interact	O
with	O
"	O
portals	O
"	O
which	O
are	O
in	O
proximity	O
to	O
the	O
player	O
's	O
real-world	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
gameplay	O
of	O
Ingress	B-Application
has	O
been	O
described	O
as	O
combining	O
elements	O
of	O
geocaching	B-Application
with	O
capture	B-Application
the	I-Application
flag	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
July	O
2016	O
,	O
15	O
million	O
portals	O
had	O
been	O
submitted	O
by	O
the	O
Ingress	B-Application
community	O
,	O
and	O
five	O
million	O
of	O
those	O
had	O
been	O
included	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
Ingress	B-Application
Prime	O
's	O
release	O
in	O
November	O
2018	O
,	O
Niantic	O
stated	O
that	O
"	O
agents	O
in	O
more	O
than	O
200+	O
countries	O
have	O
participated	O
in	O
more	O
than	O
2,000	O
real-world	O
events	O
and	O
visited	O
more	O
than	O
1.2	O
billion	O
Portals	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ingress	B-Application
was	O
released	O
in	O
closed	O
beta	O
on	O
November	O
15	O
,	O
2012	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
accompanying	O
online	O
viral	O
marketing	O
campaign	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
Ingress	B-Application
's	O
release	O
to	O
Niantic	O
's	O
separation	O
from	O
Google	O
in	O
2015	O
,	O
Niantic	O
had	O
35	O
employees	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
interview	O
in	O
2013	O
described	O
Ingress	B-Application
as	O
a	O
"	O
proof	O
of	O
concept	O
"	O
for	O
other	O
AR	O
games	O
built	O
on	O
Google	B-Application
Maps	I-Application
 '	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	O
from	O
Ingress	B-Application
was	O
used	O
to	O
populate	O
the	O
locations	O
for	O
PokéStops	B-Application
and	O
Gyms	O
within	O
Pokémon	B-Application
Go	I-Application
released	O
in	O
July	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Niantic	O
views	O
Ingress	B-Application
Prime	O
as	O
an	O
opportunity	O
to	O
innovate	O
in	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
gameplay	O
design	O
,	O
which	O
can	O
be	O
applied	O
to	O
its	O
other	O
games	O
based	O
on	O
licensed	O
intellectual	O
properties	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Niantic	O
has	O
also	O
adjusted	O
the	O
initiation	O
of	O
new	O
players	O
into	O
Ingress	B-Application
Prime	O
to	O
be	O
more	O
thorough	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
response	O
to	O
the	O
initiation	O
procedures	O
of	O
Pokémon	B-Application
Go	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2017	O
,	O
Niantic	O
announced	O
a	O
thoroughly	O
revamped	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
branded	O
as	O
Ingress	B-Application
Prime	O
,	O
would	O
be	O
released	O
in	O
2018	O
using	O
a	O
completely	O
rewritten	O
new	O
client	O
and	O
the	O
lessons	O
learned	O
from	O
the	O
massive	O
popularity	O
of	O
Pokémon	B-Application
Go	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Technologically	O
the	O
new	O
version	O
uses	O
Apple	O
's	O
ARKit	O
and	O
Google	O
's	O
ARCore	B-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
the	O
network	O
layer	O
transitioned	O
from	O
JSON	B-General_Concept
to	O
Protobuf	B-Protocol
in	O
keeping	O
with	O
the	O
engineering	O
style	O
of	O
Pokémon	B-Application
Go	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Prime	O
launched	O
on	O
November	O
5	O
,	O
2018	O
,	O
as	O
an	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
existing	O
Ingress	B-Application
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Niantic	O
also	O
retained	O
the	O
older	O
Ingress	B-Application
game	O
and	O
retroactively	O
named	O
the	O
older	O
app	O
as	O
Scanner	O
 [ REDACTED ] 	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
intention	O
of	O
the	O
older	O
Ingress	B-Application
app	O
was	O
to	O
help	O
aid	O
the	O
transition	O
to	O
Prime	O
as	O
feature	O
parity	O
was	O
reached	O
between	O
both	O
apps	O
in	O
2019	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ingress	B-Application
initially	O
was	O
supported	O
by	O
advertising	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Companies	O
would	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
pay	O
for	O
their	O
locations	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
portals	O
in	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
thus	O
making	O
their	O
stores	O
a	O
pilgrimage	O
site	O
for	O
Ingress	B-Application
players	O
,	O
which	O
may	O
translate	O
into	O
real-world	O
sales	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Germany	O
,	O
Vodafone	O
offered	O
an	O
Ingress	B-Application
phone	O
plan	O
with	O
a	O
large	O
amount	O
of	O
data	O
to	O
support	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
its	O
physical	O
store	O
locations	O
becoming	O
portals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
,	O
the	O
Jamba	O
Juice	O
and	O
Zipcar	O
chains	O
have	O
both	O
had	O
sponsored	O
locations	O
in	O
Ingress	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Niantic	O
CEO	O
John	O
Hanke	O
described	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
commercial	O
sponsors	O
in	O
Ingress	B-Application
as	O
being	O
"	O
limited	O
"	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
the	O
developers	O
do	O
not	O
want	O
to	O
take	O
away	O
from	O
the	O
experience	O
of	O
discovering	O
interesting	O
places	O
in	O
their	O
local	O
area	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Physical	O
items	O
of	O
Ingress-related	O
materials	O
initially	O
were	O
available	O
through	O
Google	O
's	O
Merchandise	O
Store	O
as	O
early	O
as	O
February	O
2013	O
,	O
before	O
Niantic	O
split	O
from	O
Google	O
in	O
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Niantic	O
's	O
Ingress	B-Application
shop	O
sold	O
physical	O
merchandise	O
such	O
as	O
T-shirts	O
and	O
patches	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ingress	B-Application
has	O
been	O
the	O
subject	O
of	O
academic	O
study	O
on	O
the	O
relationship	O
between	O
regionalism	O
and	O
globalism	O
,	O
and	O
its	O
badge	O
system	O
has	O
been	O
used	O
as	O
an	O
example	O
in	O
a	O
case	O
study	O
of	O
gamification	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Spanner	O
Spencer	O
,	O
writing	O
for	O
PocketGamer	O
,	O
noted	O
that	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
casual	O
way	O
of	O
playing	O
Ingress	B-Application
and	O
that	O
it	O
demanded	O
dedication	O
and	O
teamwork	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ingress	B-Application
has	O
been	O
read	O
as	O
a	O
gift	O
economy	O
in	O
which	O
players	O
swap	O
datafication	B-General_Concept
of	O
their	O
physical	O
location	O
for	O
gameplay	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ingress	B-Application
is	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
location-based	O
exergame	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Kai-Uwe	O
Werbeck	O
argues	O
that	O
the	O
role-playing	O
of	O
the	O
Ingress	B-Application
storyline	O
challenges	O
and	O
reinforces	O
postmodernism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ingress	B-Application
won	O
a	O
"	O
special	O
mention	O
"	O
at	O
the	O
2013	O
Android	B-Application
Players	O
 '	O
Choice	O
Awards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ingress	B-Application
won	O
the	O
Game	O
Designers	O
Award	O
at	O
the	O
2015	O
Japan	O
Game	O
Awards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2019	O
,	O
Ingress	B-Application
received	O
the	O
Sport	O
in	O
Life	O
award	O
by	O
Japan	O
's	O
Sport	O
Agency	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
interview	O
in	O
August	O
2013	O
with	O
the	O
fan	O
site	O
Decode	O
Ingress	B-Application
,	O
Niantic	O
founder	O
John	O
Hanke	O
said	O
"	O
There	O
have	O
been	O
over	O
1M	O
downloads	O
and	O
a	O
large	O
chunk	O
of	O
those	O
are	O
active.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
Ingress	B-Application
's	O
launch	O
in	O
2012	O
,	O
users	O
noted	O
and	O
criticized	O
Ingress	B-Application
for	O
appearing	O
very	O
similar	O
to	O
Shadow	B-Protocol
Cities	I-Protocol
,	O
an	O
older	O
,	O
now-defunct	O
,	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Shadow	B-Protocol
Cities	I-Protocol
,	O
players	O
are	O
in	O
the	O
virtual	O
world	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
dynamically	O
mapped	O
around	O
them	O
,	O
and	O
can	O
teleport	O
within	O
the	O
virtual	O
world	O
,	O
whereas	O
in	O
Ingress	B-Application
,	O
the	O
portals	O
are	O
real-world	O
locations	O
that	O
players	O
generally	O
have	O
to	O
actually	O
move	O
to	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
play	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shadow	B-Protocol
Cities	I-Protocol
was	O
shut	O
down	O
on	O
October	O
7	O
,	O
2013	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
players	O
have	O
attracted	O
the	O
attention	O
of	O
law	O
enforcement	O
while	O
playing	O
the	O
game	O
,	O
and	O
hence	O
commentary	O
on	O
the	O
interaction	O
of	O
augmented	B-General_Concept
reality	I-General_Concept
games	O
with	O
real	O
life	O
.	O
</s>
