UPDATED 15:17 EDT / JANUARY 17 2014

NEWS

Google’s Niantic Labs is working on a new AR game based on the Endgame trilogy

For many of you, the name Niantic Labs may sound familiar. Niantic Labs is the developer of Ingress, the famous game that combines augmented reality with a global online competition for the conquest of the key points of various cities around the globe.

The Google gaming company is heading for a new collaboration with HarperCollins, one of the largest publishing houses in the world, for the development of a new AR game based on the trilogy of Endgame created by the controversial writer James Frey, already known for novels such as I Am Number Four, the series Lorien Legacies, Million Little Pieces and others. The debut of the app (will come only on mobile devices) has already been set for October, but at the moment there is no detailed information on the dynamics of the gameplay.

According to reported news so far, it will be a title that will require direct interaction of the participants with the world around them. Players will therefore called to watch videos on YouTube, search the Web, solve puzzles, find locations on Google Maps and content uploaded to the Google+ social network, but also to go out and get some coordinates, a bit as is the case with Ingress.  It is not clear how the software company has plans to merge elements from the story with the AR technologies made available to smartphones and tablets.

“James has a great vision for telling stories in an integrated way across books, film, social media, and mobile games,” said John Hanke, VP of product at Niantic. “We are delighted to bring our technology and expertise to bear on a project that is helping to define the future of entertainment.”

Endgame is a novel that will have a series of three books. It is fully integrated with fifteen novels in e-books, YouTube videos, search results and images, coordinates, social networking and interactive games, all with a huge experience for users. The Niantic Labs is responsible for the development of a set of Endgame carrying books and videos for the real world reality. The game will bring together users from around the world with the aim to unravel the mysteries and secrets of Endgame. In the final book ENDGAME: THE CALLING will have a huge prize for player. For the prize, a quantity of gold will be on public display in a secure bullet-proof glass case. When the puzzle is solved, a key is found and the gold can be claimed—an event which will be broadcast live on YouTube.

ENDGAME will be released simultaneously around the world and in over 30 languages Including Intrinseca (Brazil), Gallimard Jeunesse/Le Groupe Madrigall (France), Gakken (Japan), Oetinger (Germany) and Salani (Italy).


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