Back in 2017, riding on the high waves of Pokemon Go’s massive international success and the cultural phenomenon it has created, Niantic Inc. turned its sights on another globally popular franchise: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Along with Portkey Games, Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment’s subsidiary publishing company created just for future Harry Potter games, Niantic announced its upcoming augmented reality mobile game titled Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.
While details were sparse back then, it was speculated that the game will have similar mechanics to Pokemon Go. After all, why mess with a winning formula when it has captured the heart of the world as well as its pockets. Today, with the launch of a new website and a teaser trailer, Wizards Unite is officially revealed. There still isn’t any concrete footage of gameplay, but the trailer does hint at the overarching setting of the game and what fans can expect.
The video highlights a player capturing a golden snitch seemingly in real life, undoubtedly pointing to some sort of Pokemon Go-like objective of obtaining items and artifacts from the wizarding world. Niantic has said before that the game will allow players to interact with iconic objects and characters from the Harry Potter realm, so this is within expectations of what the final product will probably be.
In terms of the game’s lore, players will act as members of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, an organization jointly created by the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards in order to combat the presence of magic leaking into the Muggle realm. It’s an appropriate backstory, given what the main objective of the game seems to be, and would allow for the immersive and natural act of players capturing magical “evidence” in the real world.
While there’s no release date as of yet, the game is slated to release some time in 2019. For more details, check out the official website here and enlist in the task force to receive updated news as they come.