The developers behind the worldwide phenomenon Pokémon Go have announced their next project and we think you’ll agree, it’s a great choice.
Niantic confirmed that their next augmented reality mobile game will be set in the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
It’s called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and it will use the same augmented reality technology to let players feel like they’re interacting with creatures inside the real-world.
According to a brief statement on the developer’s website, “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.”
While it’s not clear how the game will look just yet, it’s fair to say that the game will lean quite heavily on the AR interface that’s used in Pokémon Go.
Players will be able to point the camera on their smartphone at real-world locations and the phone will then create virtual creatures, objects and place them into the real-world through your screen.
Imagine pointing it at your street, seeing a dragon land right in front of you and you’ll get the idea.
Niantic actually first started developing their augmented reality as part of Google back when it launched the game Ingress.
Since then it went on to create Pokémon Go which has since been downloaded a staggering 750 million times.
The team at Niantic are partnering with Warner Bros’ mobile games studio in San Fransisco. That’s great news when you consider their pedigree includes bringing all of the LEGO games to mobile (including Harry Potter) and some heavyweight titles like Batman: Arkham Origins and Injustice: Gods Among Us.
So when will we be able to get our hands on Harry Potter: Wizards Unite? Well the game is expected to launch in 2018 and the team have asked players to keep a keen eye on its social media channels for any little hints.