[4] The game is free-to-play, uses a freemium business model, and supports in-app purchases for additional in-game items.

The portals are physical points of interest where "human creativity and ingenuity is expressed," often manifesting as public art such as statues and monuments, unique architecture, outdoor murals, historic buildings, local community hubs and other displays of human achievement.

[5] The game uses the portals as elements of a science fiction backstory along with a continuous open narrative provided through various forms of media.

[6][7] An unknown, transdimensional force called Exotic Matter (XM) was discovered as a byproduct of the Higgs boson research (through the Large Hadron Collider) by a team of scientists at CERN in Switzerland.

The map has a black background and is completely unmarked, except for buildings and roads outlined in grey but not labeled, and bodies of water.

They are surrounded by a cluster of XM and color corresponding to the faction/entity controlling the portal: green (the Enlightened), blue (the Resistance), red (machina),[19] or white (unclaimed).

[19] Portals are typically associated with buildings and landmarks of historic or architectural significance — such as sculptures, murals, and other public art, libraries, post offices, memorials, places of worship, transport hubs, parks, and other recreational or tourism spaces, or with business locations.

[24] At the time of Ingress Prime's release in November 2018, Niantic stated that "agents in more than 200+ countries have participated in more than 2,000 real-world events and visited more than 1.2 billion Portals".

Links between portals can range from several meters to thousands of kilometers, created in operations of considerable logistical complexity.

[25] Ingress was released in closed beta on November 15, 2012,[27][28][29][30] with an accompanying online viral marketing campaign.

The latter was noticed as early as November 8, and earlier publicity efforts had been noted at events such as San Diego Comic-Con on July 12, 2012.

[36][37] Niantic views Ingress Prime as an opportunity to innovate in augmented reality gameplay design, which can be applied to its other games based on licensed intellectual properties.

[38] In December 2017, Niantic announced that a thoroughly revamped version of the game, branded as Ingress Prime, would be released in 2018 using a completely rewritten new client and the lessons learned from the massive popularity of Pokémon Go.

The new version features a subtly different back story akin to a superhero origin theme and a more florid graphic design.

[39] Technologically the new version uses Apple's ARKit and Google's ARCore, and the network layer transitioned from JSON to Protobuf in keeping with the engineering style of Pokémon Go.

Companies would be able to pay for their locations to be used as portals in the game, thus making their stores a pilgrimage site for Ingress players,[43][44] which may translate into real-world sales.

[45] In Germany, Vodafone offered an Ingress phone plan with a large amount of data to support the game,[46] in addition to its physical store locations becoming portals.

[47][50] Niantic CEO John Hanke described the number of commercial sponsors in Ingress as being "limited", stating that the developers do not want to take away from the experience of discovering interesting places in their local area.

Sponsored versions of these include the "AXA Shield",[51] the "Lawson Power Cube", the "Circle K Power Cube", the "Ito En Transmuter (+/-)", the "SoftBank Ultra Link" and the "MUFG Capsule",[52][53][54][55] all categorized as Very Rare and performing significantly better than non-sponsored versions.

has remained at the same price since 2021 and our LA studio's recent restructuring, global inflation, and other economic changes have all influenced our decision.

[74] Spanner Spencer, writing for PocketGamer, noted that there was no casual way of playing Ingress and that it demanded dedication and teamwork.

[83] In an interview in August 2013 with the fan site Decode Ingress, Niantic founder John Hanke said "There have been over 1M downloads and a large chunk of those are active.

[87] Speaking with CNN, CEO John Hanke said he didn't expect players to start talking to each other and forming clubs.

[88] The game has attracted an enthusiastic following in cities worldwide[27] amongst both young and old,[89] to the extent that the gameplay is itself a lifestyle for some, including tattoos.

[1] Players have even leased airplanes, helicopters, and boats to reach portals in remote areas of Siberia and Alaska.

[90] There are times when the game's backstory is ignored and agents from both factions cooperate for the sake of real-life gameplay and game balance: for example, by establishing neutral zones and rules of engagement; for training new players; for socializing; and occasionally for serious real-life purposes such as honoring fallen heroes.

[93][94] The opposing faction members at MIT arranged a campus-wide truce after the death of Sean Collier, an MIT police officer shot by the perpetrators in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and placed their two respective portals side-by-side in a virtual cenotaph at the site of his death.

In addition, some players play while driving slowly around an area, which is not recommended by the game developers and attracts the attention of law enforcement.