Back in 2016, mobile game
developer Niantic worked with Nintendo to realize dream of many fans that grew
up on the “Pokémon” game and anime franchise. “Pokémon Go” debuted that year and
became a social mobile app phenomenon worldwide encouraging players to walk
around their hometowns to find and catch the titular Pokémon. More play mechanics were
added later over the years, though not before the user base tapered off. But
Niantic is soon to go at it again with a game app based on J.K. Rowling’s “Harry
Potter” franchise. The “Wizards Unite” app was announced in March. Now it has
gone on open beta, with a release date announced.
The Verge tells us that “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite,” a
re-jiggering of the “Pokémon Go” gameplay platform with a skin of the Wizarding
World created by J.K. Rowling, has been announced to begin its worldwide
release at the end of this week. But before that, the game app has already been
undergoing beta tests in two territories. New Zealand launched its beta version
of “Wizards Unite” back in April, with Australia following suit in May. These two
areas were also among the first territories to launch “Pokémon
Go,” and it seems Niantic is repeating history.
Co-developed by Niantic, Warner
Bros. Interactive label Portkey Games, and WB Games San Francisco, “Wizards
Unite” has its players assume the role of Potter-verse witches and wizards
living in the greater Muggle world. After a mysterious force begins exposing
magical creatures and phenomenon to the muggle public, the players must help
the Ministry of Magic to hush up these strange events. To do that they will
capture magical creatures in the wild and confront hostile entities like
Dementors and Wizard supremacists. The experience comes across as a more
fleshed-out take on the “Pokémon Go” experience.
The worldwide launch of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite begins this Friday, June 21! Keep your eyes peeled and wand ready for more information as the game goes live in your region soon. #WizardsUnite pic.twitter.com/ckk4s4mi8a— Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (@HPWizardsUnite) June 19, 2019
One of Niantic’s new proposed features
for “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” was the employment of a “persistent world.”
This means that the online representation of the environment will have creature
sightings and special events going on in real-time, even when the app is not
running. This is unlike “Pokémon Go” where the pocket monsters
would start appearing when the app is activated. There is also an attempt at
player distinctiveness by having three selectable wizard “professions” at game
start, reflecting which possible in-game activities the player avatar would
specialize at.
Niantic will begin the worldwide
release of “Wizards Unite” for Android and iOS this Friday, June 21. They have
not specified which markets will have first crack at the app’s launch, though
the developers have asked fans to keep on the lookout for further information.
Images: Google Play and BBC
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