Cross-reality conflict

San Francisco – Cross-reality game Father.io turns physical environments into massively multiplayer online (MMO) games.

• The game lets players fight it out for control over real-world locations, combining laser tag battles with strategy
• San Francisco-based developer Father.io has already raised almost £175,000 ($250,000, €225,150) via Indiegogo and is in beta testing

Augmented reality (AR) experienced through mobile devices is adding a layer of digital entertainment to real-world spaces. Some, such as Run An Empire, have an obvious incentive to encourage physical exercise through gamification, while others such as Blippar are changing the way we search.

Father.io is purely for entertainment, combining the physical and digital worlds – the kind of cross-reality to which members of Generation I are instinctively accustomed – in a multiplayer, first person shooter and strategy game.

Using geo-location and a small infrared sensor called an inceptor, which attaches to the back of a mobile device, players battle it out for control over sectors of their city, create clans and work together to harvest supplies and in-game currency.