What is Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and when does it launch?

Harry Potter fans are gearing up for the launch of a new mobile game set in the Potterverse that takes inspiration from the massively popular Pokemon Go.

Previewed in a new cinematic tailer, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite tasks players with venturing out armed with their smartphones to collect magical relics in the real world using augmented reality (AR) technology.

This technology was pioneered by the Pokemon-hunting game in 2016, which was developed by Niantic - the studio behind the new Potter game.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Critics and gamers are eager to find out whether the new title can live up to the success of Pokemon Go, which has brought in almost $2.45bn (£1.95bn) in revenue over the past three years, 9to5Mac reports.

With just days until the big launch, here’s everything we know about Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.

What is Harry Potter: Wizards Unite?

According to Metro, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is a mobile-only title that challenges players to look for “magical artefacts in order to keep the wizarding world secret from muggles” - a term for non-magical humans.

Players can encounter “anything from simple props and objects to mythical monsters and evil wizards”, as well as “parts of scenes from the books and movies”, the newspaper adds.

Gamers collect magical items, or battle enemies, while viewing their surroundings through their phone’s camera and AR, the technology that layers computer graphics over real-world images.

They may also stumble across “cuisine-serving inns” that provide them with energy, while greenhouses act as a hub for ingredients used to craft potions, says TechRadar.

The special artefacts, called “foundable items”, are protected by “beasts and wizards”, the tech site adds. It’s up to the player to determine whether battling these opponents is worth the risk.

When is the game out?

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite launches in the UK on 21 June and is free to download.

What are the compatible devices?

Devices running Apple’s iOS mobile system and Google’s Android can download Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Niantic has yet to confirm the minimum software requirements to run the game.