Pokemon GO developer Niantic has been teasing it’s newest project for months now. They’ve teamed up with the rights holders for the iconic Harry Potter franchise, Warner Bros., to create a new game based on their exceedingly popular Augmented Reality Game (ARG ) formula. This new game, called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, finally has some new details after months of silence.
The last time we heard about Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, it was a short live-action trailer that didn’t reveal much, which can be seen below. Now, we at least have some gameplay details, but no footage yet.
In a new interview, Kevin Tsujihara, the CEO of Warner Bros. the LA Times has uncovered some new elements concerning gameplay and the setting in the new mobile title. Players will use their phones to straddle the boundary between our world and the magical one, hunting down magical creatures, magical mishaps, maybe even rogue wizards and witches, all in an attempt to keep the secret of magic safe. So in essence you could be considered an employee of the Ministry of Magic in some capacity.
Niantic has also confirmed that Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will feature some “iconic” characters from the Harry Potter franchise.But since the timeline of events in-game is unknown, it’s impossible to guess who will feature in it. And since the timeline of the original books ends around 1998 for the most part, there could be some weird culture clashes going on.
As far as a release date, nothing has been confirmed beyond the year of 2019, but the interview did hint that the project is the closest to release out of all the irons Warner Bros. has in the fire. So I would expect more news in the coming weeks on that front. Although the idea of it being a Summer release is a strong contender based on the fact that the gameplay loop necessitates going outside and exploring.
Fans of Harry Potter and Niantic titles are just hoping for another Pokemon GO, and not another Hogwarts Mystery, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens I guess.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is planned for release, possibly in 2019, although exact dates and platforms are unknown. There’s differing speculation about whether it will be a wide release to both Android and iOS, or possibly even a deal between Samsung or some other phone manufacturer to push the game exclusively on their devices. Such rumors are just that, and have not been confirmed by Niantic, Warner Bros. or any other party.
