Niantic's first augmented reality (AR) game "Ingress" is getting a huge overhaul in 2018. The game developer is working on what it calls "Ingress Prime," which will be the updated version of the game.

"Ingress Prime" will feature updates on every aspect of the game, including the art and visuals, the narrative, and the technology used to power it. The overhauled version was supposed to be released before the end of the year, but it looks like Niantic has encountered some delays and have chosen to release it next year instead.

When "Ingress Prime" gets released, it will use the same technology platform that Niantic employs for its widely popular game "Pokemon Go." Launching the game on the new platform will allow it to benefit from new technologies like Google's ARCore and Apple's ARKit.

Although Niantic became known for its massively popular "Pokemon Go," it actually began with "Ingress," which was launched way back in 2012 when the company was still a subsidiary of Google. The game included location-based elements, although the technology was still not very popular then.

Now the "Pokemon Go" has introduced AR to the world and a lot of mobile phone players are familiar with the concept, Niantic believes that it is a great time to re-release the game. The company considers "Ingress" to be in its very core.

"This game was the place where we figured out all of the things that we later applied to Pokémon Go, and will be drawing from for other projects that we do in the future," says John Hanke, Niantic's chief executive officer. "We really look at it as our spiritual core."

When "Pokemon Go" was released last year, Niantic had to pour its attention to the massively popular game, leaving little resources for "Ingress." Fortunately, the game's community has stayed loyal to the title, and they would be ecstatic to get the upcoming overhauled version "Ingress Prime."