Niantic, Inc. is the developer of hit AR games Pokémon Go and Ingress. The formerly Google-owned developer was spun out of the company in October 2015. In March 2015 Google announced that the software developer was working on adapting Ingress for television.

Much like Pokémon Go, Ingress uses phone’s GPS system to help you navigate through both the real world and the virtual world of the game. In Ingress players are on one of two teams – they either believe that an alien invasion is benevolent and hence want to protect it, or they believe that it is malevolent and wish to destroy it.

Players travel to real-world locations (known as “portals”) which they must then defend with other people on their team against enemies.  

Ingress was launched in 2013 and in 2015 Google confirmed that the software development company was working on creating a television show based on the game. It is not certain whether the project has now been shelved following the departure from Google. 

The idea behind the television programme would be to expand upon the game’s universe. It would see a cross over between the events of the show and the events of the game, providing more reality to the augmented reality. The Information reports that Google sees this as “another layer of the game’s world.”

It is not clear exactly how the game play and the programme will interact, however it has been suggested that some kind of incentive-based system will be brought in which allows game users to benefit within the game by watching the TV programme.