Ingress players detained by authorities in Egypt

We have talked about the game Ingress before. This is a game that Google first rolled out back in 2012 that uses your smartphone camera to put game play over real world locations in your area. It sounds really cool, but authorities in Egypt didn’t think so. Players playing Ingress were gathering for an Anomaly event in Alexandria, Egypt were detained by authorities.

Egypt doesn’t look favorably on large public gatherings and with that fact in mind, exactly why Niantic Labs thought that having a public event like was a good idea is definitely in question. Details claim that there were 14 players who were picked up by local authorities.

Reports indicate that the 14 players spent some time in a local jail after authorities mistook the gathering for a gathering of protesters. If you are unfamiliar with Ingress lingo, an Anomaly event has players gather in the real world at a certain location where both of the factions in the game battle in the augmented reality of the game.

The results of the battles determine the plotline of the game. Often the local authorities are unaware that an event is taking place and official permission to hold events isn’t sought. All of the detained players were later released and it seems no charges were filed.

SOURCE: Ausdroid