News: Niantic Sets Launch Date for Harry Potter Augmented Reality Game, Releases New Trailer

After more than a year of teasing and testing, Niantic and Warner Bros. are finally ready to release Harry Potter: Wizards Unite to muggles of the world.

Niantic has announced that the game will launch on Friday, June 21 starting with players in the US and UK, with other regions to follow. Along with announcement, the company has released a new trailer (see bottom of page).

While the date has been a long time coming since the announcement of the game in November 2017, the milestone has been foreshadowed by recent events, namely the beta launches in New Zealand and Australia in May and the start of pre-registration via Google Play.

Between Niantic providing details about the game and beta testers sharing their experiences, players already know exactly what to expect.

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The game will follow Niantic's model for location-based gaming, with players collecting characters and items in the real world under the premise of returning magical macguffins to their world. Players will also have the opportunity to battle each other at landmarks in their communities.

In addition, Niantic has elevated its own capabilities, Niantic Real World Platform for multiplayer experiences, persistent content, and real world occlusion, in the years since unleashing Pokémon GO on the world.

What remains to be seen is if the game can replicate the success of Pokémon GO. Considering that the Wizarding World franchise rivals Pokémon for popularity and the game has the genre's godfather, Niantic, at the controls, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite stands a strong chance of pulling off the same magic trick.