Why Your Location is a PokeStop or Gym in Pokemon Go

A couple days ago, I wrote up a tip for those who have become a bit annoyed with the younger set showing up on your lawn or in your business to catch Pokemon. Read that tip HERE.

Since then, some have asked why a certain place or location is a PokeStop or Gym. Here’s the story…

Pokemon Go is not the first go-round for the developer, Niantic. Niantic is a software company that was spun out of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, last year, but it has been working with augmented reality games since 2011, when it launched Ingress into beta. Winner of the Grand Prize at the 2015 Japanese Media Arts Festival, Ingress brings a Sci-Fi story into our world. Ingress gameplay is based on secrets, clues, and intrigue that resonate in the real world through an Android or iPhone smartphone viewer.

From the game description:

A mysterious energy has been unearthed by a team of scientists in Europe. The origin and purpose of this force is unknown, but some researchers believe it is influencing the way we think. We must control it or it will control us.

“The Enlightened” seek to embrace the power that this energy may bestow upon us. “The Resistance” struggle to defend, and protect what’s left of our humanity.

Sounds fun.

During gameplay, gamers submit places as “portals.” These portals have become the basis for PokeStops and Gyms. But, why are people just finding out that certain locations were selected as "portals" that are now gyms and PokeStops? Well, gameplay for Ingress is about espionage, intrigue and secrecy so its best to hide your activities. But, Pokemon Go is a more flamboyant, more public display. With all those portals now pegged as gyms and stops, its like exposing to the public that an alien uprising has been in place for years.

So, essentially, every place where you see a PokeStop or a Gym has been user-submitted as an Ingress portal. In the future, many new Pokemon specific places will be created and some will be removed, so the differences between locations for Ingress and Pokemon Go should start to show.