Everything we know about Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy, an action RPG set in the Wizarding World, is in development. Here's everything we know about it, from its story to its gameplay and more.
October is Dark Arts Month on Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
Niantic Labs launched augmented reality (AR) title Harry Potter: Wizards Unite over the summer, allow fans of the franchise to run around their home towns and cities, collecting magical items and performing spells. With it being October and the Halloween season, the developer has announced the start of Dark Arts Month, with lots of new in-game events and activities for players to enjoy.
Dark Arts Month starts tomorrow (8th October), with players having to protect the wizarding world from all sorts of sinister forces. These challenges and events will be split down over the month as follows:
- Fighting Forces Brilliant Event Part 1: October 8-14
- A new quest featuring the spine-chilling Brilliant Death Eater and an Azkaban Escapee
- October Community Day: October 19
- Expect more uncanny creatures including Vampire, Werewolf and Doxy oddities appearing more frequently
in the game
- Expect more uncanny creatures including Vampire, Werewolf and Doxy oddities appearing more frequently
- Fighting Forces Brilliant Event Part 2: October 22-28
- A new sinister quest featuring the Brilliant Sirius Black and a Dementor
- Exclusive Halloween Quest: October 31
- Get ready for an exciting and exclusive Dark Arts-themed Wizarding Challenge Fortress Chamber and quest with limited-time rewards
Co-published and co-developed by WB Games San Francisco and Niantic, Inc., under the Portkey Games label, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite began with a staggered rollout, arriving first in Australia and New Zealand in May before making its way to North America and the UK. Players explore their neighbourhoods looking for ‘Foundables’ help restore the balance between the two worlds. These can be artefacts, creatures, people, and even memories, which have made it through from the wizarding world into the Muggle realm.
Just like in other geo-location AR videogames on mobile, players will find that particular real-world locations will act as areas of interest, taking the roles as Inns to replenish Spell Energy or for brewing special potions and Fortresses which allow for real-time multiplayer battles against dangerous enemies.
Last month version 2.4.0 was released, updating and improving several features. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is available as a free download for iOS and Android devices which are AR compatible. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Niantic Labs and its latest AR titles, reporting back with further updates.
Wands at the Ready, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is Out Now
The last few months have seen plenty of teasing videos and screenshots appear for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Now the day has arrived all Potter fans have been waiting for, a chance to head out into the real world and test those magical skills.
Developed by Niantic Labs (Pokemon GO) in collaboration with Portkey Games and Warner Bros. Games, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has seen a staggered global rollout, arriving first in Australia and New Zealand in May before making its way to North America and the UK this week. This should hopefully help avoid some of the issues Niantic Labs experienced when Pokemon GO launch back in 2016 where players couldn’t get online.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite looks to feature a similar setup to a lot of geo-location style augmented reality (AR) titles like The Walking Dead: Our World and Ghostbusters World. Players will need to walk around their local neighbourhood and look for ‘Foundables’, which can be artefacts, creatures, people, and even memories, which have made it through from the wizarding world into the Muggle realm.
Collecting these magical artefacts will help restore balance and avoid causing a Calamity. Special locations around the real world such as monuments or locations of interest will act as Inns or Fortresses. Players will need to head to Inns to replenish their Spell Energy, and where they can use magical ingredients for brewing special potions. Fortresses, on the other hand, allow players to engage in real-time multiplayer battles against dangerous enemies. These challenges encourage players to work together to prevail against truly high-level threats, with success unlocking rare magical rewards.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is free to download for iOS and Android devices which are AR compatible – the AR function can be turned off to save battery – with in-app purchases available.
Check out the launch trailer below, and once VRFocus has tested Harry Potter: Wizards Unite for ourselves we’ll give you a verdict. For any further updates on the latest AR experiences, keep reading VRFocus.
The Next Trailer for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Lands
Fans of the wizarding world of Harry Potter should be pleased to hear developer Portkey Games and Niantic Labs have released another trailer as Harry Potter: Wizards Unite continues preparations for launch later this year.
The video chronicles an ever-growing number of magical disturbances in the muggle world, from strange new creatures running amock to inanimate objects suddenly coming to life, it’s all starting to get a little rather hectic.
Much in the same way Pokemon GO or Ingress works, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is an augmented reality (AR) title that requires real-world exploration. All of this chaotic magical activity needs to be stopped and it’s up to players to solve the mystery of this calamity as new recruits of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force. With wands at the ready, players will need to discover mysterious artefacts and cast spells, whilst encountering fantastic beasts and iconic characters as they explore their local neighbourhoods.
While proper gameplay has yet to be shown, Niantic Labs has revealed that players need to return ‘Foundables’ – artefacts, creatures, people, and even memories – trapped by Confoundable magic to help restore the balance. They’ll need to head to Inns that can replenish their Spell Energy, and where they can use magical ingredients for brewing special potions. Those lucky enough to find a Portkey will be able to open AR portals into iconic wizarding world locations and much more.
As well as all of that to find, no Harry Potter title would be complete without some magical combat to engage in. All players need to do is head to special Fortress locations which host real-time multiplayer battles against dangerous enemies called Wizarding Challenges. These should encourage players to work together to prevail against truly high-level threats, with success unlocking rare magical rewards.
Players can pre-register for the game on Google Play or the Galaxy Store for Android devices to be among the first players to experience Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. A launch is expected later this year, no official date has been given just yet. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, reporting back with any further updates.
First Official Images Released for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
Ever since Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was first announced back in 2017, Niantic Labs, along with WB Games and Portkey Games have been teasing information – usually a short video – but no actual videogame footage. Today, that’s now changed with the first gameplay details and screenshots being shared.
The premise around Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is that wizards and witches from around the world are being called upon to help investigate and contain a Calamity that has befallen the wizarding world, strange appearances of magic crossing over into the Muggle world. Players will need to cast spells and return ‘Foundables’ – artefacts, creatures, people, and even memories – trapped by Confoundable magic, to their proper place in an effort to keep magic hidden from Muggle eyes.
Gameplay will involve heading to Inns that can replenish a player’s Spell Energy, and where they can use magical ingredients for brewing special potions. Those lucky enough to find a Portkey will be able to open AR portals into iconic wizarding world locations and much more.
And of course, there’s going to be plenty of magical combat to enjoy when players visit real-world locations called Fortresses. These host real-time multiplayer battles against dangerous enemies called Wizarding Challenges. These will encourage players to work together to prevail against truly high-level threats, with success unlocking rare magical rewards.
If you’ve played Niantic Labs’ Pokemon Go then all of this will likely sound slightly familiar, with Raids, Poke-Stops, and Gyms sounding like they’ve had a magical makeover. Hopefully, the studios are saving the best to last, with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite coming to iOS and Android mobile devices in 2019.
AR videogames like Ghostbusters World from Ghost Corps and FourThirtyThree Inc., and Next Games’ The Walking Dead: Our World all offer something very similar with big franchise branding, so it remains to be seen how popular the Harry Potter franchise still is. As further details on Harry Potter: Wizards Unite are released, VRFocus will let you know.
The Tease Continues as Another Video Appears for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
Niantic Labs, in conjunction with WB Games and Portkey Games, are currently in the process of developing augmented reality (AR) title Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Since being first revealed just over a year ago, nothing has actually been seen of the videogame so far, with the only details coming by way of the official website and a live-action teaser trailer last month. Now another trailer has made an appearance, and yes, once again, there’s little info revealed.
The video this time takes the form of a road traffic camera in Sydney, Australia. Here you can see several of the famous Nimbus 2000 broomsticks flying out of control, and without any riders to speak of.
This continues the premise of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’s story arc that magic is slowly going out of control, with more and more strange appearances of magic crossing over into the Muggle world. Having created titles like Pokemon GO and Ingress, Niantic Labs will likely be taking a similar approach with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, where players will have to walk about looking for magical anomalies to fix, ensuring the wizarding world isn’t exposed and magic doesn’t suddenly run amok.
Currently, these two videos are all we have to go on when it comes to actual info, with the studios keeping things very close their chest at the moment. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was originally slated for a 2018 release, but it has now been confirmed that won’t be happening, with 2019 now the target.
Thanks to videogames like Pokemon GO as well as software like Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore, AR gaming is slowly coming to the forefront of mobile gamers lives, finding new ways for them to play not only solo but in groups and teams. Ghost Corps and FourThirtyThree Inc. recently launched Ghostbusters World, while Next Games brought out The Walking Dead: Our World, two big franchises that want to pull gamers away from Pokemon GO with new features and gameplay mechanics. As more details on Niantic Labs’ Harry Potter: Wizards Unite slowly come to light, VRFocus will keep you updated on all the latest announcements.
AR Mobile Game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Delayed Until 2019
Having first announced the development of augmented reality (AR) videogame Harry Potter: Wizards Unite a year ago, Niantic Labs, in conjunction with WB Games and Portkey Games have stayed fairly quiet about its development. Originally slated for a 2018 release, a new teaser trailer released today has confirmed that won’t be happening, with 2019 now the target.
If you were hoping that the new trailer was going to give some concrete insight into the gameplay characteristics of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite then you’re going to be disappointed, it is a teaser trailer after all. Instead, you see a golden snitch flying about through what looks to be a security camera. A witch suddenly appears grabs the snitch and vanishes again.
She leaves behind a clue however, with a poster that reads “The wizarding world is at risk of exposure, we need your help.” The official website fans those flames a little more by saying: “Please resist the urge to panic. Traces of magic are appearing across the Muggle world without warning and in a rather chaotic manner. We worry it is only a matter of time before even the most incurious Muggles catch wind of it. We call on all witches and wizards to help contain the Calamity or risk the worst of times since You Know Who. Brush up on your spells, get your wand ready, and enlist immediately.
“The Ministry is looking for witches and wizards willing to roll up their sleeves and volunteer to save the wizarding world from the Calamity. As a member of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force (a new task force formed in partnership between the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards) you will hone lightning fast wand reflexes, an ability to sniff out the faintest whiff of magical disorder from afar, and proficiency in advanced casting of multiple spells.”
With AR videogames now more commonplace than they were when Niantic Labs released highly successful Pokemon Go, it remains to be seen how the studio in conjunction with WB Games and Portkey Games will advance the genre. Niantic Labs has just released Ingress Prime, but Ghost Corps and FourThirtyThree Inc have launched Ghostbusters World, and Next Games brought out The Walking Dead: Our World, two big franchises looking to fill your gaming time. As further details do emerge, VRFocus will keep you updated.
Harry Potter label Portkey Games brings the wizarding world to new players
Warner Bros. Interactive has announced Portkey Games, a label devoted exclusively to releasing Harry Potter games on mobile and console. Its first project is Niantic's Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.
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