Shopping Centers on Roster of Ingress Mobile Game Locations

trendz_web_issuesIII&IV_2014_ingress If you’ve never played Ingress, Google’s mobile game, here’s the elevator pitch: the real world becomes an AR landscape in a global game of intrigue and competition, and you need to pick sides to help save the future of mankind. Armed with an Android device and the Ingress app, more than two million gamers in 200-plus countries have already joined the high-stakes adventure and, in the process, discovered some of the world’s most famous landmarks and popular spots, which now include La Part-Dieu and Confluence. The French shopping centers made the announcements on their websites, adding social gaming to their formal media mix.

The properties are by no means alone, and a growing list of malls are joining the Ingress landscape, contributing meeting spots—anything from clock towers to fountains—for their local Ingress community. Just as friends check in with Foursquare once they’ve arrived at a mall, you could have dozens of people congregating there to meet with other members of their Ingress faction, the game acting as a traffic builder. And there are more opportunities within the game too. Brands such as Jamba Juice, Hint Water and Zipcar have signed co-promotional deals with Google, be it to provide game check-in locations or product tie-ins (e.g., Hint Water printed game codes inside its water bottle caps).

Dig a little, and you just might find an active Ingress faction in your city.