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Google bringing sci-fi game to TV: Report

Google (GOOGL) is boldly going where it hasn’t gone before.

The tech giant is reportedly bringing its augmented reality sci-fi game, Ingress, to TV. Tech news website, The Information, reports that the TV show would influence the game and add "another layer of the game's world." The geo-location game, developed by Google's Niantic Labs, has soared in popularity since its release in 2012.

Yahoo Columnist Rick Newman thinks Google is trying to get a slice of every market.

“Google is trying everything," he says. "Obviously, this looks appealing to them, and we're just seeing the continued diffusion of all our entertainment options… the idea here is it would be sort of a hybrid video game TV offering. It's entertainment. I think this is terrific.”

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While Niantic Labs has reportedly partnered with the Sean Daniel Company, producer of the new SyFy's miniseries The Expanse, it is unclear whether the show would air on traditional TV networks or on streaming services. Yahoo Finance’s Aaron Task wouldn't be surprised if Google makes a segue into TV production.

"Ultimately it is going to do that. Every company is a media company now, and if you're a platform like Google you want to be in all areas," he says. "Amazon (AMZN) bought Twitch last year, which is a video gaming company, and Facebook (FB) has Oculus. All these things are converging…entertainment and video games are becoming one."

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Yahoo Finance Senior Columnist Michael Santoli adds that this is an opportunistic move for Google.

"A company like Google finds themselves in possession of an entertainment brand almost by accident, and they're going to exploit it," he says.  "These brands are so fungible. You have video games that are massive YouTube viewership... my kids watch Minecraft videos of other people playing... Disney made a movie franchise out of a theme park ride with Pirates, so obviously they're looking for ways to exploit any brand recognition and make a movie, TV show, a game, out of all of it."