Much like Pokémon Go, Niantic’s Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has players go out into the real world and discover magic as it is portrayed in the Harry Potter franchise. That means plenty of wild magical creatures to find, confounding magics to discover, and magical folk to meet. I may have said the word ‘magic’ quite a few times there, but with the world of Harry Potter opening its doors through augmented reality, is there really such a thing as too much magic?
New Zealanders, you’re in luck. While Wizards Unite isn’t available everywhere just yet, a New Zealand-only beta version has just come out on both iOS and Android. You can grab it now, but full disclosure: it’s a beta. That means it’s not a finished product and might be a far cry from what we can expect when it officially launches. Like with any beta, the purpose of this is to provide Niantic with feedback and public testing to help them improve the game and make it ready for launch.
Developer Niantic is one of the most well-known game developers that works with augmented reality. Their first game, Ingress, was a game of international mystery and investigation. It had players choose to side with one of two factions, the Enlightened or the Resistance, as they vie for power and control over the world. Their second game, Pokémon Go, made waves and headlines around the world for bringing Pokémon to life. From working adults who watched Pokémon as children to the youth who were just getting introduced to the franchise, Pokémon Go was smash hit that remains popular all around the world. Niantic’s AR games encourage players to go out into the real world, and some players even went so far as to travel to far-away countries and spend large sums of money just to experience everything the games had to offer.
With Harry Potter Wizards Unite coming out any day now, fans around the world are high with anticipation. Just like how Pokémon is a franchise that has shaped the childhood of many, Harry Potter is also something that many people hold close to their hearts. The world of Harry Potter is a magical one - teeming with possibility, overflowing with fantastic spells and beasts and mysteries. Wizards Unite aims to bring that to the world in a way that bridges the gap between fiction and reality. With augmented reality, fans can experience the world of Harry Potter in a way never before possible.
Initially, Wizards Unite was slated to come out sometime in 2018, but to further tweak the game and make it ready for players, Niantic pushed the release it back to 2019. No official release has been announced, but now that the game is available in New Zealand, chances are it’s already on its way to the global market.
