Anomaly

An XM Anomaly or simply Anomaly is an official event run by Niantic itself that can take place across many countries and several weeks. At each event, which generally lasts four hours, Agents of both factions compete to accomplish various objectives on top of normal Ingress gameplay. The faction who scores the most total points across every event in the series wins the Anomaly, and often the Ingress storyline changes based on the anomaly events.

Anomaly events are heavily publicized in advance and attract thousands of Agents across both factions. During the event, which generally lasts four hours, agents compete to capture designated Portals, complete special Control Fields Δ, control specific areas, crack codes, and outplay opponents in other challenges. Agents set rigorous battle plans, bring top-quality items, and travel long distances, making an Anomaly one of the highest-level gameplay experiences an Agent can participate in.

The events themselves can be classified as Primary or Satellite events. Primary events, held in easily-accessible major cities with dense clusters of Portals, have the most objectives, the highest attendance, the most brutal competition, and sponsored challenges. Niantic attends almost every Primary event, often together with Characters like Hank Johnson or Susanna Moyer, as well as the NL-1331 van. Although the Satellite events are smaller in scope and scale, the competition is just as brutal and their outcomes have swung entire Anomaly series in the past.

The first major Anomaly was #13MAGNUS, which started on 12. October 2013 in New York City and concluded on 14. December 2013. Since then, additional anomalies have taken place, each involving tens of thousands of Agents and leaving permanent marks on the Ingress canon.

List of Anomalies[]

These anomalies are held according to fevgames, but their size are relatively small compare to the event nowadays.

Battle for Cahokia[]

Save Klue[]

Free Misty[]

Operation Juice Club[]

Shaper Data[]

Bowstring[]

Ingress Days[]

Time Zero[]

Save Klue / Free Klue[]

Voynich[]

Minotaur[]

Cassandra[]

Cassandra is held on 11. to 24. August 2013 and included:

Sydney
Milan
Tokyo
Dusseldorf
Boston
Washington DC
Manila
Paris
São Paulo
Hong Kong
Cologne
Chicago
New York

13MAGNUS[]

13MAGNUS was held globally from October to December in 2013.

Recursion[]

Recursion was held globally between 15. February and 29. March 2014.

February 15th, 2014

Miami, FL, USA - PRIMARY

Louisville, KY, USA - Satellite

Columbus, OH, USA - Satellite

February 22nd, 2014

Bangalore, India - PRIMARY

Hyderabad - Satellite

New Delhi, India - Satellite

March 1st, 2014

Nashville, TN, USA - PRIMARY

Mobile, AL, USA - Satellite

Little Rock, AK, USA - Satellite

March 8th, 2014

Austin, TX, USA - PRIMARY

Mexico City, Mexico - Satellite

Saint Louis, MO, USA - Satellite

March 15th, 2014

Zagreb, Croatia - PRIMARY

Tel Aviv, Israel - Satellite

Cairo, Egypt - Satellite

Nice, France - Satellite

Cagliari, Italy - Satellite

March 22nd, 2014

Boulder, CO, USA - PRIMARY

Boise, ID, USA - Satellite

Provo, UT, USA - Satellite

March 29th, 2014

Los Angeles, CA, USA - PRIMARY

Berlin, Germany - PRIMARY

Spokane, WA, USA - Satellite

Oakland, CA, USA - Satellite

Nantes, France - Satellite

Brussels, Belgium - Satellite

Interitus[]

Interitus was held globally between 12. April and 21. June 2014.

April 12th, 2014

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - PRIMARY

Malaga, Spain - Satellite

Secondary: Glasgow, UK - Satellite

April 26th, 2014

Flagstaff, Arizona, US - PRIMARY

London, UK - PRIMARY

Salt Lake City, Utah, US - Satellite

Colorado Springs, Colorado, US - Satellite

Stockholm, Sweden - Satellite

Frankfurt, Germany - Satellite

May 10th, 2014

Santa Fe, New Mexico, US - PRIMARY

Tohoku, Japan - PRIMARY

Cheyenne, Wyoming, US - Satellite

Helena, Montana, US - Satellite

Seoul, South Korea - Satellite

Beijing, China - Satellite

May 17th, 2014

Kansas City, Missouri, US - PRIMARY

Melbourne, Australia - PRIMARY

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, US - Satellite

Madison, Wisconsin, US - Satellite

Brisbane, Australia - Satellite

Auckland, New Zealand - Satellite

June 7th, 2014

Cincinnati, Ohio, US - PRIMARY

Santiago, Chile - PRIMARY

Asheville, North Carolina, US - Satellite

Birmingham, Alabama, US - Satellite

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Satellite

San Jose, Costa Rica - Satellite

June 21st, 2014

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, US - PRIMARY

St. Petersburg, Russia - PRIMARY

Hoboken, New Jersey, US - Satellite

Jacksonville, Florida, US - Satellite

Krakow, Poland - Satellite

Bergen, Norway - Satellite

Helios[]

Helios was held on 26. July, 09. August, 23. August, 06. September and 27. September 2014 and included:

26. July 2014

Dublin - PRIMARY

Tallinn - Satellite

Palermo - Satellite

San Diego - PRIMARY

Philadelphia - Satellite

Boston - Satellite

09. August 2014

Taipei - PRIMARY

Hong Kong - Satellite

Kuala Lumpur - Satellite

Chicago - PRIMARY

Richmond - Satellite

Galveston - Satellite

23. August 2014

Prague - PRIMARY

Rotterdam - Satellite

Manchester - Satellite

Detroit - PRIMARY

Baltimore - Satellite

Indianapolis - Satellite

06. September 2014

Minneapolis - PRIMARY

Monterrey - Satellite

Tulsa - Satellite

Bogota - PRIMARY

Asuncion - Satellite

Buenos Aires - Satellite

27. September 2014

Munich - PRIMARY

Riga - Satellite

Gothenburg - Satellite

Tacoma - PRIMARY

Sacramento - Satellite

Vancouver - Satellite

Darsana[]

Darsana was held globally from October to December on 2014.

Shōnin[]

Shōnin was held on 21. February and 28. March 2015 and included:

21. February 2015

Florence, Italy - PRIMARY

Alexandria, Egypt - Satellite

Bilbao, Spain - Satellite

Brno, Czech - Satellite

Austin, TX, USA - PRIMARY

Las Vegas, NV, USA - Satellite

Atlanta, GA, USA - Satellite

Medellin, Colombia - Satellite

28. March 2015

Kyoto, Japan - PRIMARY

Adelaide, Australia - Satellite

Christchurch, New Zealand - Satellite

Guangzhou, China - Satellite

Hanover, Germany - PRIMARY

Cardiff, UK - Satellite

Reykjavik, Iceland - Satellite

Yekaterinburg, Russia - Satellite

Pasadena, CA, USA - PRIMARY

Denver, CO, USA - Satellite

Orlando, FL, USA - Satellite

Lima, Peru - Satellite

Persepolis[]

Persepolis was held globally from May to June on 2015.

Abaddon[]

Abaddon was held on 10. October, 26. October, 14. November and 12. December 2015 and included:

10. October 2015

Boston, MA, USA - Shard Games

Houston, TX, USA - Shard Games

26. October 2015

London, UNITED KINGDOM - Shard Games

Zurich, SWITZERLAND - Shard Games

14. November 2015

Banqiao, New Taipei City, TAIWAN - PRIMARY

Bangkok, THAILAND - Satellite

Manila, PHILIPPINES - Satellite

Sydney, AUSTRALIA - Satellite

Hamburg, GERMANY - PRIMARY

Edinburgh, UNITED KINGDOM - Satellite

Seville, SPAIN - Satellite

Zagreb, CROATIA - Satellite

New Orleans, LA, USA - PRIMARY

Charlotte NC, USA - Satellite

Guatemala City, GUATEMALA - Satellite

Pittsburgh, PA, USA - Satellite

12. December 2015

Okinawa, JAPAN - PRIMARY

Seoul, SOUTH KOREA - Satellite

Singapore, SINGAPORE - Satellite

Wellington, NEW ZEALAND - Satellite

Milan, ITALY - PRIMARY

Gdansk, POLAND - Satellite

Porto, PORTUGAL - Satellite

Sofia, BULGARIA - Satellite

Oakland, CA, USA - PRIMARY

Fort Worth, TX, USA - Satellite

Lima, PERU - Satellite

Phoenix, AZ, USA - Satellite

Obsidian[]

Aegis Nova[]

Via Lux[]

Via Noir[]

13MAGNUS Reawakens[]

13MAGNUS Reawakens was held on 26. August and 23. September 2017 and included:

26. August 2017 (All Satellite)

Basel, Switzerland

Szczecin, Poland

Nantes, France

Brisbane, Australia

Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Macau, China

Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Nashville, TN, USA

Portland, Oregon, USA

23. September 2017

Stockholm, Sweden - Satellite

Ljubljana, Slovenia - Satellite

Turin, Italy - Satellite

Seoul, Korea - PRIMARY

Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka - Satellite

Bali, Indonesia - Satellite

Washington D.C., USA - Satellite

Belo Horizonte, Brazil - Satellite

Kansas City, MO, USA - Satellite

EXO5[]

EXO5 was held on 04. November and 02. December 2017 and included:

04. November 2017

Berlin, Germany - PRIMARY

Belfast, Nothern Ireland, UK - Satellite

Zagreb, Croatia - Satellite

Osaka, Japan - PRIMARY

Chennai, India - Satellite

Cebu City, Philippines - Satellite

Boulder, CO, USA - Satellite

Houston, TX, USA - Satellite

Panama City, Panama - Satellite

02. December 2017

Tallinn, Estonia - PRIMARY

Madrid, Spain - Satellite

Bruges, Belgium - Satellite

Taipei, Taiwan - PRIMARY

Unknown, Brunei - Satellite

Perth, Australia - Satellite

San Francisco, CA, USA - PRIMARY

Honolulu, HI, USA - Satellite

Cassandra Prime[]

Recursion Prime[]

Darsana Prime[]

Abaddon Prime[]

Myriad[]

Umbra[]

Kureze Effect[]

The Kureze Effect Anomaly was held over three months in three distinct phases, one each month. This Anomaly was the first after the COVID-19 pandemic started and was therefore played differently. Instead of only a few cities, this Anomaly was held in cities all around the world using the Battle Beacons , with Agents everywhere being able to join by placing a Battle Beacon themselves.

Kythera[]

Superposition[]

Epiphany Dawn[]

MZFPK[]

The MZFPK Anomaly will be held globally on 18. March 2023 using the Agent Ops feature.

Echo[]

The Echo Anomalies will be held during Q2 of 2023.

Ctrl[]

The Ctrl Anomalies will be held during Q3 of 2023.

Discoverie[]

The Discoverie Anomalies will be held during Q4 of 2023.

How Anomalies Are Played[]

Anomalies can take place worldwide for either a single weekend or stretched across multiple weeks. Factions compete to acquire points at Primary events, Satellite events, and MU Shift.

Anomaly events occur for about two to five hours in selected cities, with primary gameplay occurring at small clusters of tens to hundreds of Portals within the city center. While different Anomalies have run under slightly different rules, the common gameplay is that factions receive points for capturing, linking, and fielding, with bonus points given for controlling designated "Volatile Portals" and forming Control Fields Δ over Clusters.

The Primary sites are normally measured four times during the event, within 10 minutes of known checkpoints. Volatile Portals are revealed mere minutes before each checkpoint, and lose their volatility soon afterwards. Gameplay takes place in teams, with team leaders decided by Niantic months in advance. While the score is calculated after each checkpoint, team leaders are barred from releasing scoring information until after the final checkpoint.

Primary sites also tend to become something of Ingress conventions. Sponsors are out in force, Niantic employees hand out passcodes and sell swag, fans hawk third-party memorabilia, distant teams meet up and exchange keys, and Agents even dress in team colours and themed costumes. Niantic bestows awards to Agents who break stat records, the NL-1331 is out and about for badge hunters, and parties rage late into the night.

In addition to Primary sites, the anomaly causes ripples in the XM fabric of other cities and turns them into Satellite sites, also referred to as Secondary or Remote sites. Victory in those locations also counts towards the total score, sometimes to a greater degree than the Primary sites. Scoring at Satellites depends on the event, with some having a single checkpoint and others having two or four. Volatile Portals are often announced earlier, and clusters depend more on city topology than Niantic's game design.

The global Mind Unit control can also has an impact on the outcome of Anomalies. This is known as MU shift and is a representation of difference between initial and final global MU totals through the measurements. The faction with higher positive shift gets the points. This means that everybody in the world can have some effect on the event, although MU totals have historically remained fairly stable.

As every Anomaly has different rules, it is advised to read the rule document Niantic releases in advance carefully. While the points above have been implemented in events for a long while, recent Anomalies have shifted to different rule sets, doing away with the Primary and Secondary designation of cites etc.

Controversy[]

It has been theorized that the faction victory at Anomalies is largely irrelevant to the canon.

For example, the Enlightened victory in the lead-up to #13MAGNUS caused the Resistance's XM weapon to malfunction, transforming Roland Jarvis's conscience into pure XM and scattering it among 13 Shards. The fan-theory argues that had the Resistance won instead, the weapon would have fired and killed Jarvis, but his diabolical XM experiments would have regenerated his conscience among the Shards, leading to identical gameplay.

Despite the skepticism, Niantic has firmly and repeatedly stated that the storyline and interim events are influenced by the Anomalies.