'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' release date news: Niantic to launch AR game inspired by the world of Harry Potter

A promotional image for Niantic's upcoming augmented reality game, "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite." Niantic

Niantic's next augmented reality mobile game will take people to the magical world of witchcraft and wizardry. Niantic recently announced "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite" based on J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" franchise. Niantic is the company behind world-renowned AR video games like "Ingress" and "Pokémon GO."

The company said they will introduce new gameplay mechanics for the game.

"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," the company said in a statement.

According to Pottermore, the game will also introduce new content for "Harry Potter" like plots and locations.

The description of the game reads, "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite uses state-of-the-art augmented reality technology to reveal the magic all around us."

Niantic is working alongside Portkey Games for the development of the upcoming AR game. Portkey Games is the exclusive game division of the "Harry Potter" franchise, established by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

There is still no official release date but Niantic has already set up the official website of the game where people can sign up to receive notifications. "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite" is expected to debut sometime in 2018.

Before "Harry Potter: Wizards Unite," Niantic released "Pokémon GO" in 2016. The AR application was well received by millions of people worldwide. "Pokémon GO" also received impressive ratings from online video game publications like IGN and GameSpot. Both critics gave the game a score of 7 out of 10.

"Pokémon GO" features teams for players to choose. There is no confirmation from the developers yet if the "Harry Potter" AR game will feature the four houses of Hogwarts.

There are also no updates from Niantic if the game will feature the original cast of the "Harry Potter" film franchise. Fans are excited to hear more information about the game and its elements.

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