Niantic’s next augmented reality phenomenon is still shrouded in mystery.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is coming soon to an Android phone near you and more details of this exciting new AR adventure have. We know that it’s currently under development by Niantic and Portkey Games, so it’s going to be both an augmented reality game that remains faithful to J.K. Rowling’s source material and, most importantly, the Warner Bros. film franchise.
The latest Wizards Unite news
March 11, 2019 — WB offers first look at Wizards Unite as pre-registration opens
Muggles finally have their first look at what to expect from the highly anticipated new AR game based on the Harry Potter universe. We now know that the storyline will take place firmly in the Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts universe and feature crossover from characters and creatures from both film franchises. As we’ve come to expect from Niantic, the game is built around visiting portals located on a map which lets you interact with the Wizarding world and cast magical spells to your hearts content!
Pre-register for Wizards Unite
January 8, 2019 — Latest teaser drops a few more clues
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While Niantic is still swearing to secrecy when it comes to Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, the latest trailer drops some hints about what we can expect once the game launches. Previously, we learned that players will be entering the Muggle world to investigate traces of strange and potentially dangerous magical activity.
In the latest teaser, we see that a number of Nimbus 2000 brooms are flying around the world unmanned. It’s not clear if the brooms are being controlled by someone or acting on their own accord, but what we do know is that they seem to leave traces of magic behind them. Knowing Niantic, players could be tasked with finding those traces to capture and file records about these strange happenings for the ongoing investigation being carried out by the Statute of Secrecy.
While Nimbus 2000 brooms were the subject of this trailer, the fact that this phenomenon was filed away as an individual event suggests other things in the Harry Potter universe could be featured. The previous teaser for the game showed a wizard capturing a golden snitch, after all, and with tons of mystical beasts, magical objects, and other things you’d only find in the world of wizardry, the sky is the limit on what you might find in your time playing the game.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is scheduled to arrive later this year, so expect more details to start flowing out as Niantic closes in on a release date.
November 14, 2018 — Harry Potter: Wizards Unite teaser trailer confirms delay until 2019
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzQDoPUcvmE?modestbranding=0&html5=1&rel=0&autoplay=0&wmode=opaque&loop=0&controls=1&autohide=0&showinfo=0&theme=dark&color=red&enablejsapi=1]
The official Harry Potter: Wizards Unite YouTube channel uploaded a new teaser trailer for the upcoming mobile game, and while it gives us an exciting glimpse of things to come, it also confirms that it’s being delayed until some point in 2019.
In the teaser, we see a golden snitch flying around what appears to be the Muggle world. A wizard appears out of nowhere, grabs the snitch, and then slaps a poster on a while saying “The Wizarding World is at risk of exposure. We need your help. Wizards Unite.” All of this is shown through the eyes of a security camera of some sort.
The description for the video provides a bit more detail, saying:
Why are traces of magic appearing in the Muggle world? Enlist immediately to help uphold the Statute of Secrecy and protect the wizarding world!
It’s unclear when in 2019 Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will be released, but hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later.
All the big details
What do we know about the game so far?
Niantic and WB Games have finally revealed screenshots, gameplay footage, and other details about what players can expect from Wizards Unite. To the delight of Potter fans everywhere, we now know that the game will feature characters and creatures found in both the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises as a strange calamity has caused creatures and artifacts from the wizarding world begin popping up in the Muggle world. You enter the fray as a new recruit of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, as a Ministry agent that’s able to operate between the magical and Muggle world. As we sort of expected, the game is centralized around visiting real-world locations spawning magical things and use all your magical powers to send them back to where they came from.
Basically, delivering all the cool stuff you’d want from a Harry Potter game — casting magical spells with your wand, brewing up potions, and epic wizard battles!
Before this information dump, fans were only left speculating what the actual game would look and play like, knowing only that it was based in the Harry Potter universe and would surely borrow similar augmented-reality gameplay mechanics that Niantic has perfected in its previous games Ingress and Pokémon GO. And know we know that the formula will remain mostly the same in regards to hitting up the location of a Foundable to cast it back to the magical world and seeking out Inns, which are Muggle locations that can replenish your Spell Energy. Go there, do the thing. Walk over there, recharge your meters. Its tried and tested and sure to be a hit with Harry Potter fans.
Right off the bat, Niantic is including real-time multiplayer combat which occurs in-game at Fortresses, where you can team up with friends to take on nasty foes including Death Eaters, Dementors, and evil wizards which also lets you send rarer Foundables back from whence they came. You’ll also get to choose to specialize in a magical profession of your choice — Aurors, Magizoologists, and Professors — with each profession offering up unique skills and abilities that will become more useful in group battle situations the further along you progress.
When is the game coming out?
We’ve still got no set release date, but it’s fair to assume that early access will begin during the spring. If you’d like to be among the first Muggles to play Wizards Unite, be sure to preregister with Niantic and WB Games by clicking through to the link below. You can also pre-register directly on the Google Play Store.
Pre-register for Wizards Unite
Are you excited for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite?
Let us know in the comments and let us know what you’d love to see in an augmented reality game set in Harry Potter’s magical world.
Updated March 2019: Niantic and WB Games have given muggles the first look at Wizards Unite.
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