Last year, Niantic – the development team behind Pokémon Go – announced it would be partnering with Warner Bros. to create a brand new augmented reality mobile game – Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.

Since then, it’s been deathly quiet, with virtually no news around the upcoming mobile title. However, a (brief) new teaser trailer was finally released today, showing a hint of what we can expect to see next year.

The trailer largely focuses on the player, depicting how the game itself will be played using AR functionality. Unfortunately, any real gameplay footage has been left out, possibly hinting at how far along it may (or may not) be in development.

At the beginning, a Ministry of Magic logo is revealed, above the words “Repello Muggletum” – a reference to the Muggle-Repelling Charm from the series. Subsequently, a flash of the “Statute of Secrecy Task Force” logo can be seen as well. Later in the video, what appears to be security camera footage of an alleyway shows a poster stating:

“THE WIZARDING WORLD IS AT RISK OF EXPOSURE – WE NEED YOUR HELP – WIZARDS UNITE”.

After visiting the website, it’s made clear that these images are in reference to the “Calamity” – a phenomenon where “traces of magic” are “appearing across the Muggle world without warning and in a rather chaotic manner”. It is clearly very Sirius.

In the video, a young witch can be seen capturing a rogue Golden Snitch. It would appear that the basis of the game will be similar to Pokémon Go – where players will use AR to find and capture magical items out in the real world. The website states:

“…You will hone lighting fast wand reflexes, an ability to sniff out the faintest whiff of magical disorder from afar, and proficiency in advanced casting of multiple spells”.

The final call to action is for users to “Enlist Now!” and join the Statue of Secrecy Task Force. Upon entering your birth date and email address, you become a member, and are told that you will be kept posted “on the unfolding calamity” via email.

The game is set to Apparate onto mobile devices in 2019.

Will you be playing Wizards Unite upon release next year? Would you enjoy gameplay similar to Pokémon Go’s mechanics, or should it be a different style of game? Let us know in the comments below…

[source harrypotterwizardsunite.com]