That said, the underlying ideas-walking around your real neighborhood to locate virtual people, creatures, and objects and interact with them-are the same between the two AR games. The game is now available for iOS and Android in the US and UK, expanding on the existing availability in Australia and New Zealand.īut Wizards Unite is a bigger and more robust game than Pokemon Go was at its launch, with a lot more things to keep straight. With its release this week, Harry Potter: Wizard Unite serves as something of a follow-up, bringing a lot of Pokemon Go's sensibilities into the Wizarding World. It's still a common occurrence to see high marketing for the worldwide catch 'em all, yet Wizards Unite flounders in the abyss.A whole lot of people have played Pokemon Go, developer Niantic's augmented reality mobile game that swept the world up into a mobile game fad three years ago. Hogwarts Legacy is set to be the next major video game based on the Harry Potter franchise in 2022. Games have adapted to the conditions and as Pokémon GO proved, many achieved their best years to date. The ongoing global pandemic is another factor but while the majority of industries have struggled to survive, video games have thrived. Good luck to The Witcher: Monster Slayer. The behemoth that is Minecraft wasn't even enough, now set to shut down in June. Jurassic World Alive from Ludia is the only other one that springs to mind with a semi-decent revenue stream ( $40 million in nine months). So the harsh reality is this looks to be down to chosen genre. Something that the upcoming triple-A action RPG Hogwarts Legacy will be wary of, yet is expected to still prosper. ![]() Outside of Pokémon GO, location-based games have failed to set the world alight. Zynga's Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells surpassed $62 million recently too, and that was only released in September 2020. To put that in more perspective: Pokémon GO has made $1 billion in revenue… in 2020 alone. Wizards Unite, on the other hand, has scrapped its way to $37 million from 20 million downloads (via Sensor Tower) since June 2019. Hogwarts Mystery generated 100 million dollars in the last 11 months. A respectable number - one that has continued to grow, surpassing $300 million only last week. While critics were mixed on the RPG, fans reception seemed much more positive, which capped off its first year with $110 million in spending. partnered with Jam City to develop Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Was it the platform? Again, history says otherwise. The Fantastic Beasts franchise had just kicked off, generating a large sum of money and wasn't seen as the train wreck many consider it today. Now was the reason for this the Harry Potter license? Unlikely, as this was before J.K. Wizards Unite never experienced that same global buzz. The sun was high in the sky, no lockdown in sight and every street corner was bustling with trainers looking to take down gyms, or go in search of a wild Charizard. ![]() It's incredible just how big of a swing and miss this sequel has been.Įveryone remembers those first few months with Pokémon GO. Without a strong community behind it, there was no one to tell others to get involved. That was its first mistake.ĭuring the conclusion of my review, I stated that "for the game to really shine more needs to be done than duplicating features from its successful older brother," and that "the enchanting community of Wizards Unite is fictitious." Living in the shadow of Niantic's catch 'em all phenomenon, Wizards Unite focused on bringing Pokémon GO players across, instead of making a case as to why "Potterheads" should jump in. That seems to have been the problem from day one, with nothing changing now nearly two years on. Being able to explore the Wizarding World, brew potions and cast spells is exactly what every young muggle dreams of.īut 18 months on, the location-based title began rolling out, and immediately you could see the issues.Īs someone that reviewed Wizards Unite, I was enthralled by the idea initially, but it became very clear that this was more of a Pokémon GO clone than a true Harry Potter experience. ![]() In November 2017, it was announced that developer Niantic would take on the IP as its next big follow up to the smash hit that was (and still is) Pokémon GO. Of course, there had been plenty of successful games but nothing of note on mobile. Updated: This article considered the game's failure, which has now been confirmed as it's shutting down on January 31st, 2021.Ī decade ago, with the movie release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the IP was at the peak of its power.Įstimated to be worth $25 billion, the assumption was it would continue an upward trajectory, moving into other mediums and spinoffs films, such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
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