Niantic's latest project, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, could have a 2019 summer release. This was revealed by Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
In the interview, Tsujihara says Wizards Unite is "coming this summer." While it's possible we'll be exploring the wizarding world on our cell phones in July, we don't know how the release will roll out. Looking at Niantic's previous work, Pokémon Go was released over the summer of 2016 to both Android and iOS. The game had a buggy first few days, but has since become one of the most popular mobile games in the world.
The reveal comes months after the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. While the sequel did not perform as expected, Tsujihara said Warner Bros. now knows how to proceed with the third film, and hopefully make it better that even the first Fantastic Beasts movie.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is an augmented reality role-playing location-based game. The game was first announced in November 2017 with Niantic serving as developer in partnership with both Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and WB Games San Francisco. A teaser video was released a year later.
In the game, the wizarding world is in trouble and players need to go around and deal with magical occurrences to prevent muggles from learning about magic. Players can expect to encounter magical creatures and even magical items like a wayward Golden Snitch or a riderless Nimbus broomstick.
Stay alert and sign up for the Statute of Secrecy Task Force now! #WizardsUnite https://t.co/XTiQx9Iwhw pic.twitter.com/GiKcJcJNWy
— Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (@HPWizardsUnite) February 12, 2019
Niantic has since confirmed that many well-known characters of the Harry Potter franchise could make appearances like the heroic trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Professors like Minerva McGonagall will likely make an appearance as well. Personally, I'm hoping for an appearance from Arthur Weasley, the head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, and someone who has a child-like fascination for items that are muggle-related.
While no other additional details have been released, rumors are suggesting that the game could initially be exclusive for Samsung devices. That means other Android devices, and even iPhones, will have no choice but to wait.
San Francisco-based Niantic is best known for developing games that utilize augmented reality. The company's first product was the location-based mobile app titled Field Trip. Its first augmented reality game was Ingress, which officially released in October 2013.
Niantic gained prominence when the company partnered with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company to release Pokémon Go. While the game is free to play, it follows a freemium business model and offers in-app purchases. Within a month of its release, Pokémon Go racked up at least 800 million downloads around the world.
