https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/24/niantic-lightship-vps-campfire-ar-social-app-pokemon-go/

Since the launch of Pokémon Go in 2016, players have been coordinating meetups, in-game raids and battles on platforms like Reddit and Discord. This summer, parent company Niantic is unveiling Campfire, a social app designed to help mobile augmented reality (AR) gamers connect.

Niantic’s games incentivize people to use their technology to go outside and meet others — that’s why it calls its AR development the “real-world metaverse.” Campfire wants to make that even easier (or offer an alternative to long-running Pokémon Go Discord servers) and is supposed to be the “homepage” of this slice of techno-reality. Following in Snapchat’s footsteps as a map-based social platform, the app also includes the ability to connect with people, find nearby events, join communities and message people. Users can also share their location with friends (don’t share with strangers!).