We'll All Be Wizards When Niantic's AR Harry Potter Game Launches In 2018
Niantic, Warner Bros, and Portkey Games are teaming up for a game that may inspire us to get outside again.
Pokemon Go is a mobile heavy-hitter than introduced the masses to AR with a very simple form of integration. Niantic continues to reap the rewards of its social creature-hunting experience, but has its sights on another major franchise next. Announced today, Niantic and Warner Bros have teamed up for a Harry Potter AR game that will launch in 2018.
The new game, as reported by Techcrunch, is called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and will be co-developed by Warner Bros Interactive and Portkey Games. There aren't any concrete details on what type of AR experience this will be but, when looking at "Unite" in the title, Niantic will likely try to capitalize on social engagement and utilize the company's map database to get wizards out into the streets in droves like Pokemon Go did for trainers at launch.
Hopefully, Niantic has learned a great deal during the life of Pokemon Go. It's been a roller coaster for the company and players of Pokemon Go alike, but the potential for a worldwide hit themed after the Potterverse is immense. What would you like to see in an AR game based on Harry Potter?
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Charles Singletary posted a new article, We'll All Be Wizards When Niantic's AR Harry Potter Game Launches In 2018
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Ooh, that kind of makes me mad since Magus has been in development for a couple of years. It seems like Niantic looked at it and decided to roll their own rather than work with an indie dev to adapt their property... Who knows of course but I'll be sad if Magus fails due to more funded competition, they have come a long way and have a pretty playable game already. (http://maguss.org/)
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Meanwhile, Niantic still hasn't said anything beyond "we're investigating it" 3 weeks after The Brokers Guild BS was leaked.
https://kotaku.com/ingress-players-use-unofficial-tools-to-stalk-one-anoth-1820196357
Kotaku put this out yesterday.
Make games kids want to play, but be fast and loose with your data so people can be tracked constantly. GG, Hanke.