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.