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Wizards Unite: The New Harry Potter Augmented Reality Game

Pokémon Go creators Niantic have announced Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, an augmented reality game that will allow players to experience the Wizarding World.

Adiba Jaigirdar

Staff Writer

Adiba Jaigirdar is an Irish-Bangladeshi writer, poet, and teacher. She resides in Dublin, Ireland and has an MA in postcolonial studies. She is currently working on her own postcolonial novel and hopes that someday it will see the light of day outside of her computer screen. Twitter: @adiba_j

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Ever since Pokémon Go was released, there had been rumours about a similar augmented reality game for the world of Harry Potter. While the rumours at the time ultimately proved to be untrue, fans insisted that this was a game that needed to happen. After all, like Pokémon, Harry Potter has opened fans up to an entirely new world to explore. Especially with J.K. Rowling’s continuing expansion of her world through Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a Harry Potter augmented reality game seemed like a no-brainer.

Thankfully, Pokémon Go creators Niantic appear to be on the same page as Harry Potter fans as they announced Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, a new augmented reality game that will allow players to experience the world of Harry Potter all around them. The Niantic Website states that “with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, players that have been dreaming of becoming real life Wizards will finally get the chance to experience J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. Players will learn spells, explore their real world neighborhoods and cities to discover & fight legendary beasts and team up with others to take down powerful enemies.” Niantic has teamed up with Warner Brothers in order to bring this game to life.

There are many reasons to be excited about this game. Obviously, getting to experience the world of Harry Potter from our own reality is very exciting. But Niantic’s experience with Pokémon Go and Ingress already means that they have tried and tested methods they can bring to Wizards Unite. While Wizards Unite is a completely separate game, it will probably borrow from these games that have already set precedents.

Personally, as a huge Potterhead, I am beyond excited about this game. I know that other fans of Harry Potter are also itching to explore more of the wizarding world, and hopefully, it won’t be too long until we get to do just that.