Pottermore, the official news site for everything Harry Potter related, announced the creation of Portkey Games last week. Portkey Games will be the new division under Warner Brothers responsible for all games set in the Harry Potter universe. It draws its name from the magical teleportation device from J.K. Rowling’s hit series.
Shortly after, Portkey Games announced Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. In charge of the development of the augmented reality game is, surprise surprise, Niantic. The game will essentially be the Harry Potter equivalent of Pokemon Go. But instead of catching critters, players will cast spells, discover artifacts, and meet characters from the wizarding world in their own neighborhoods.
For loyal Pokemon Go players, this raised a red flag. Updates for the hit game have been few and far in between. Some worry that this is the nail in the coffin, but Niantic is trying to reassure players that this isn’t the case. A note on their blog states:
“However, we–the Pokémon GO development team–want to say that we are 100% committed to creating an ever-changing and growing game that gets our players exploring, meeting each other, and deepening their connection to the Pokémon universe. We’re actively expanding the Pokémon GO development team to build many more amazing features in 2018. Stay tuned for an update next week on upcoming improvements to certain features.”
So it seems that this is a win-win for fans of both series. While Niantic initially struggled due to the overwhelming interest in Pokemon Go, the studio expanded to meet the demand. It looks like it may finally be ready to take on a new property. The blog states that it is expanding the teams for both games. Hopefully Niantic will be prepared for the popularity that will undeniably surround the release of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.
More details on the magical mobile game will appear in 2018.
