- The AR-based mobile game will be taken down from multiple app stores this December
Niantic and WB Games have officially announced their plans to shut down the augmented reality mobile game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, on January 31, 2022. The title is scheduled to be removed from the App Store, Google Play, and Galaxy Store on December 6, 2021. The announcement, which was made in a blog post, didn’t share any specific reason for the closure.
“Not all games are meant to last forever,” said Niantic. “Our goal with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was to bring the magic of the wizarding world to life for millions of players as they stepped outside and explored their neighbourhoods. We accomplished that together, delivering a two-year narrative story arc that will soon complete.”
Released in 2019, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is an AR-based mobile game, that followed a similar formula as its predecessor, Pokémon GO. Once an account had been created, players could visit real-world locations and partake in a range of activities such as spell casting, potion brewing, fighting mythical creatures, searching for mysterious artefacts, and encountering iconic characters from the Harry Potter universe.
Unfortunately, the game was not able to mirror the success of smash hit – Pokémon GO, and could very well be the catalyst for this decision. Back in September, Niantic had also shut down development on Catan: World Explorers, based on the popular board game, claiming that they faced several challenges while trying to adapt it into a location-based MMO.
“Our goal is to deliver the best experiences to you, our players, based on our pillars of exploration, exercise and real-world social interaction. We’ll take all of the learnings from Harry Potter: Wizards Unite into our other projects,” Niantic said. The company recently launched Pikmin Bloom in collaboration with Nintendo, and is currently hard at work on Transformers: Heavy Metal, where you’ll be able to battle giant robots in AR.
As Wizards Unite is coming to an end, players can look forward to some gameplay changes and events that will take effect starting November 2. Daily Assignments will have increased rewards, reduced potion brew times, no limits on sending or receiving gifts, and a lot more. The game will also be turning off in-app purchases on December 6, 2021. Any Gold balance in your possession will have to be spent before the game closes on January 31, 2022.
Originally published in Indian Express, https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/gaming/harry-potter-wizards-unite-to-shut-down-on-january-31-2022-full-details-7609573/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=technology&pnespid=HLwk5Fpb8TQJlV_Ftc2JF1tUrhIo2q0prQNNDKgfP57KiVu3a0YDTwLwltlm4NqAc2RYwpJE