Google's next venture: TV producer?

Google is in talks with Sean Daniel Co. to turn its popular augmented reality video game, Ingress, into a television series, according to a new report.

|
Ingress
Screen shot from Ingress game trailer.

Google has seemingly broken into every sector imaginable, so why not try its hand at the small screen? 

According to reports from The Information, Google’s popular augmented reality game, Ingress, may be turned into a television series. The multiplayer game was created by Google’s gaming studio, Niantic Labs, which is supposedly in talks with the production company Sean Daniel Co. to bring the sci-fi video game to life.

The studio was the producer behind “The Mummy” film franchise and the upcoming Syfy series, “The Expanse.”

While Google does not appear to have responded to any requests for comment, producers are "in talks with candidates to serve as its showrunner," according to "two people who have been involved in the discussions" that spoke with The Information.

The tech giant has not announced which television platform will host the show, but it is reportedly considering both traditional TV networks and streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu.

Running on the Android operating system, Ingress is an online role-playing game that requires GPS to participate. Downloaded more than 5 million times, the game involves more social interaction and fresh air than many other smart phone games. Players must go to various real world landmarks, such as a statue or park, and “capture” the objects using a smart phone with different commands. Users even schedule meetups with their teams to complete missions. 

But do not expect Google to wear “production studio” as one of its many hats. 

According to Android Police, Google "isn't particularly interested in cashing in on Ingress' worldwide audience." Android Police speculates that the TV version of the game is likely “a deeper extension into the game's hybrid reality-fictional world and a way to provide a more intimate connection with its players."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Google's next venture: TV producer?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2015/0327/Google-s-next-venture-TV-producer
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe