Niantic is suing the developers Global++

John Hanke Niantic Wizards Unite

Recently Niantic has filed a lawsuit against Global ++. This organization is an ‘association of hackers’ which make ‘unauthorized derivative versions’ of apps which include the game Ingress, both developed by Niantic. These games are called PokeGo++ and Ingress++. They give an advantage to its users, while also simultaneously infringe on Niantic’s intellectual property rights.

Specifically, these derivative apps include features like GPS manipulation, auto walking and sniping, all of which are against the game’s Terms of Service and Player Conduct code.

Alongside two alleged lead developers, the lawsuit names 20 unknown defendants, also alleged members of Global++ who couldn’t be personally identified. 

“Among other things, defendants’ schemes undermine the integrity of the gaming experience for legitimate players, diminishing enthusiasm for Niantic’s games and, in some cases, driving players away from Niantic’s games altogether. Defendants’ schemes therefore damage Niantic’s reputation and goodwill and interfere with Niantic’s business,” 

Niantic is seeking a “preliminary injunction” in the lawsuit, which would force Global++ to immediately stop distributing tweaked versions and to stop any work on reverse engineering the official code distributed by Niantic.

Global++ has already developed a tweaked / hacked version of Wizards Unite, Niantic’s soon to be released Harry Potter game.

Niantic has expressed concern over Potter++ in the motion for a preliminary injunction:

“Niantic files this motion on the eve of the United States launch of Harry Potter, the culmination of a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment by Niantic, the success of which is threatened by defendants’ unlawful conduct”

You can read the full legal complaints below here: Niantic v. Global++ - Mot. for PI ; Niantic v. Global++ - Complaint.

following the initial publication of this story, Global++ took down its website, deleted its servers in the popular chat app Discord, and advised its community that "we will be shutting down indefinitely incompliance [sic] with our legal obligations." The group also deleted their Facebook page, but their Twitter is still active as of this time.

Edited: Dmitry Mostov

Last update: 15.06.2019.