Niantic has now announced that it is ready to return attention to its original AR release, Ingress, with an update that will fundamentally change several aspects the game. The company plans to call the upgrade Ingress Prime and the application’s name will change to that as well. While the core mechanisms in the game will remain either the same or similar, the update will change the overall aesthetics, the underlying storyline, and even the underlying architecture. Unfortunately, there’s still no solid release date for the Prime update and there aren’t too many details about what those changes will entail.
Regarding what is actually known about the update, the game will run on the same underlying architecture and technology as the company’s other game, namely Pokemon GO. That means that changes made to one game which happen to be applicable to the other will be able to be ported over much more easily. That includes the sometimes controversial anti-cheating methods used to prevent unfair advantages in that other title. However, it also means Niantic will be able to incorporate any applicable updates brought by Google’s ARCore platform. As to the overall aesthetics of the game, Niantic says it is, of course, bringing more general graphical improvements but that it is also focused on streamlining the gameplay. That will be accomplished through improvements to the user interface that are intended to make it more user-friendly and accessible.
Meanwhile, the company has not revealed too many details about what, exactly it plans to do with the underlying story with the Ingress Prime update, as compared to the original Ingress. The original story required a fair share of playthrough and interaction with other players in order to be understood. Given that so many players went through the extra effort to become immersed in the title, and that many are still investing time into it, major changes could result in some backlash. With consideration for the company’s renewed focus on accessibility, however, it isn’t immediately apparent how much or how little that will be altered. Having said that, the company did also recently acquire a storytelling firm, so it may just be that Niantic wants the game to be far more story driven. It is one aspect of the game that Niantic has said it is looking to change, but even the accompanying trailer for the updated game is vague. As mentioned above, the release also still doesn’t have a solid release date so, for the time being, it may be best not to speculate until the company itself reveals more.