You’re a wizard! Or at least you will be come this Friday when Harry Potter: Wizards Unite launches on mobile devices worldwide. The latest game from Niantic, the makers of Ingress and Pokémon GO, takes the popular augmented reality technology made famous in those two previous titles and applies it to the wizarding world of Harry Potter, so get your wand skills ready because you’re about to be admitted to Hogwarts.
The game heavily leans on using much of what has come to be expected from Niantic’s other two games when it comes to the actual gameplay aspect, so using your phone like a wand and fending off magical enemies shouldn’t feel too unfamiliar if you’ve played either Ingress or Pokémon GO.
To commemorate the launch of the game happening on June 21 Niantic has released an official launch trailer. If it’s been a while since you’ve heard that all-too familiar tune that pops up at the beginning of Harry Potter films then you’ll no doubt get the nostalgic feels after watching it too.
The trailer also shows off a little bit more of the in-game graphics towards the very end, and it looks like things will be fairly interactive and pretty well-done. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has been in a closed beta in Australia and New Zealand since earlier this year, giving players in those two regions the chance to see the game and experience things up close prior to Niantic’s global launch that was only referred to as coming later this year.
Now with the beta having done its job and the launch just a couple of days away, aspiring wizards the world over will finally get their chance to test out their affinity for magic spells like the super powerful patronus.
The trailer doesn’t give too many details out about what’s to come but in the few minutes that it plays along multiple characters can be seen which may very well make their way into the game and it seems like they’ll span the entire Harry Potter universe. Even the Niffler from ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’ appears in the video clip.
Niantic officially announced the new augmented reality game back in November of 2017, and launched a teaser trailer for it back in 2018. That trailer was only thirty seconds long and was all cinematic, and while this new launch trailer is mostly live-action cinematics as well it’s quite a bit longer and features little bits of actual gameplay making it more engaging and certainly seems to stir up the hype a little more.
Like Niantic’s other two games Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will be a free offering but players can definitely expect there to be in-game purchases of some kind to show up, keeping in mind these are purely optional and meant to enhance the game but not necessarily give an unfair advantage.
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. #WizardsUnitepic.twitter.com/ckk4s4mi8a
— Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (@HPWizardsUnite) June 19, 2019