After announcing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite back in November 2018, Niantic has released their latest augmented reality game for iOS and Android devices day early in the United States and United Kingdom. The game was initially slated for a June 21 release, according to a tweet from the game’s official account earlier this week.
Like Niantic’s previous title Pokémon Go, Wizards Unite allows players to explore the game by exploring their physical surroundings. An internet connection is required to play. Aside from the AR features, Wizards Unite has a similar microtransaction system. The game is free to download, but players can use money to buy Gold, the in-game currency that can be used to purchase items, such as Runestones (required to do Wizarding Challenges), potions, and Dark Detectors (used to reveal items).
Wizards Unite puts players through an event called The Calamity, in which key components from the Wizarding World (such as artifacts, creatures, and even people), called Foundables, start to appear in the Muggle World and are sealed by Confoundable magic. This breeds disaster for the underground Wizarding World of Harry Potter, as regular, non-wizard people may discover the Foundables. Players will assume the roles of members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force and must work together to break the Confoundable spells and take back the Foundables. Along the way, they’ll encounter familiar faces from the Harry Potter franchise, such as Harry Potter himself and other magical creatures, like Dementors and Death Eaters.
Wizards Unite is currently available in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom, for iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play).