New Information: Game Info
On March 11, 2019, Niantic announced many details about their highly anticipated game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. IGN and Eurogamer both had some time to play the game early, and a new page was uploaded to the Harry Potter: Wizards Unite website.
HP: WU is an AR-based mobile game, like Pokemon GO and Ingress, that will allow users to interact with spells, potions, and monsters within the Harry Potter universe.
Gameplay Details
AR World
- Harry Potter-themed graphics overlayed over a real-world map, similar to Pokemon GO
- Walk around your environment to interact with entities in the real world ("Traces")
- Points of Interest transferred over from other Niantic games are turned into:
- Inns: Replenishes your "Spell Energy"
- Greenhouse: Rewards ingredients for "Potions" that provide buffs
- Fortresses: Contain high-level enemies that take a group to take down, similar to Pokemon GO Raids
- Portals("Portkeys") to fictional places from the series can be placed in AR after walking a set distance
Capture / Combat
- Foundables are paired with a "Confoundable" that must be "defeated" in order to capture the Foundable
- Example: Hippogriff Foundable has a "ball and chain" Counfoundable which must be removed
- Spells are cast by lining up a "glyph" on your screen with a similar glyph placed in AR
- After the glyph is lined up, a pattern must be drawn on the screen for the spell to fire
- Players are graded on their accuracy and rewarded with "stickers"
- After capturing enough stickers you are rewarded with the ability to "pose" with the Foundable in AR mode
- Also rewarded with Runes
- 10 categories of Runes
- Grant access to Fortresses
- Runes used on Fortresses impact what type of reward is received
- Fortresses house "Wizarding Challenges" which are real-time battles against entities such as Dementors or Death Eaters that reward rare Foundables
- Must be completed in a group (max 5 players)
Story / Character Development
- Foundables will be logged in a Registry, similar to a Pokedex or Pokemon Storage
- "The Calamity" has happened in the HP universe that has released many mysterious entities into the world ("artefacts, creatures, people, and even memories")
- The player will join the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, part of the Ministry of Magic, to investigate
- No cosmetic customization revealed at the moment
- Players will be able to select one of three specializations(Auror, Magizoologist, Professor) each with a separate skill tree to customize your abilities
Release Info
- "2019"
- Projected to be Summer 2019 according to WB
- Will release in 19 languages
- Pre-registration is available now
