Niantic, the developers who launched Pokémon GO, have officially released Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, a new mobile augmented reality game that lets players experience the magical world of Harry Potter, right from their iOS or Android smartphones. Starting today, the game is available for download in the US, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, with more locations being rolled out over time.

“Leveraging the full tech stack of the Niantic Real World Platform, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is the next evolution of real-world gaming, pushing the boundaries of mobile augmented reality (AR) to bridge the paper-thin line between the real world and wizarding world,” said Niantic in a blog post.

The game is free to download, and allows players to create a wizarding avatar, pick a Hogwarts house, customize a wand, and more. Much like Pokémon GO, users need to walk around and travel to outside locations to complete challenges, capture specific creatures, and levelup.

“As the latest title under the Portkey Games label, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite allows players to experience magic in the real world unlike ever before. Visit iconic locations in the wizarding world through AR-powered Portkeys, face Wizarding Challenges alongside fellow players and collect clues to solve the mystery behind the Calamity,” said The Harry Potter: Wizards Unite team.

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Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, created through a partnership between Pokémon Go creator Niantic and WB Games, centres around the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, a group formed through a partnership between the British Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards to help protect muggles from magic. The player takes up the role of a new recruit to the task force with the challenge of hunting magical creatures, beings, objects, and memories that have escaped the wizarding world.

The elements of magic floating around are dubbed ‘Foundables’ and it’s up to the player to seek out traces of magic around the real-world using their phone camera and the game’s AR capabilities. Returning Foundables to the wizarding world earns the player rewards, but consuming spells uses up energy which has be replenished by stopping at inns or collecting food and drinks. Ingredients can also be found around the map to make potions.

The game also features Portkeys which can transport the player into a full 360-degree immersive AR experience of iconic locations from the famous series of books and movies. And there are ‘Fortresses’ featuring Wizarding Challenges, which are real-time multiplayer battles against enemies such as Death Eaters and Dementors.

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The Series C financing is being led by IVP, with additional investment from aXiomatic Gaming, Battery Ventures, Causeway Media Partners, CRV, and Samsung Ventures. Niantic says it will using the funding to invest in advanced AR capabilities, machine learning, its Real World Platform, and to continue broadening its game releases.

“We continue to be focused on delivering on our mission of bringing people together through experiences that marry advanced technology and the real world” said John Hanke, Niantic co-founder and CEO. “This funding round adds financial and strategic support as we focus on doubling down on that mission with our platform and building upon the popularity we’ve established in recent years as we grow our portfolio and offerings.”

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Last month, The Wall Street Journal reported that the startup was heading toward the closure of a $200m funding round – led by venture capital firm IVP, with participation from Samsung Electronics and aXiomatic Gaming – at a valuation of $3.9bn.

The close of the Series C funding round means Niantic has now raised over $415m to date, according to Crunchbase. Other investors have included Alsop Louie Partners, Spark Capital, Founders Fund, You & Mr Jones Brandtech Ventures, and others. The latest round was made up of 26 investors.

The latest cash influx comes ahead of the release of Niantic’s long-awaited Harry Potter AR game, titled Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The game has been in the works for more than a year and is expected to arrive at some point in 2019, though no launch date has been set yet.

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Pokémon Go

Similar to Pokémon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is all about players going and exploring the real world using their smartphone and its camera. The AR game will see players learn spells and team up with their friends to fight against ‘beasts’.

“Get ready for some exciting and fun adventures ahead,” said the Niantic team in a blog post. “Weve been hard at work with our partners at WB Games and can’t wait to bring the magic of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, part of the Portkey Games label, to you in 2019.”

Niantic has setup a dedicated site where fans awaiting the game’s release can subscribe to receive updates.

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“Niantic’s commitment to activity and exploration is a theme that we’ve touched on countless times over the past eight years, and as our technological capabilities continue to grow, we strive to think critically about how our players can get more from discovering the world around them,” said John Hanke, CEO of Niantic. “Adventure Sync will give trainers the option to apply their activity and movement during their morning commutes, strolls about town on lunch or evening jogs back to Pokémon Go for some big rewards.”

The new gameplay system will sync in the background with iOS HealthKit and Android Google Fit, as well as any apps that work in conjunction with them. Players will be able to access a weekly summary that includes their distance travelled on foot, steps counted, calories burned and other fitness metrics, while new features will be introduced to the game like weekly milestones for walking.

According to Niantic, Pokémon Go players have already walked 53 per cent more in 2018 than they did in 2017, and a recent survey of 2,000 players from around the world found that 70 per cent felt that playing Pokémon Go motivated them to walk more on average. 64 per cent said the game motivated them to go outdoors, while 47 per cent felt their physical activity level had increased since playing.

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The extremely rare and powerful pocket monsters will appear at gyms as part of the game’s recently added co-op ‘Raid Battle’ feature. In this feature, players work with up to 20 others to defeat a powerful Pokémon called the Raid Boss. If the player, and their team, is able to defeat the Legendary Raid Boss, they have the opportunity to catch their own Legendary Pokémon.

Once a Legendary Pokémon has been caught, they can be used to take on other Raid Bosses and partake in gym battles, but they can’t be left to defend gyms unlike normal Pokémon.

Players can start looking for Legendary Pokémon from tomorrow (22 July) when Grant Park, Chicago hosts Pokémon Go Fest. Players at the event and around the world will work together to unlock the first Legendary Pokémon by catching enough pocket monsters during the event’s ‘challenge windows’. If this is achieved, the first Legendary Pokémon will appear in Grant Park. Players at Pokémon Go Fest will then be tasked with defeating the Legendary to trigger Legendary Raid Battles around the world for all players.

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A feature called ‘Raid Battle’ will enable players to work with up to 20 others to defeat a powerful Pokémon called the Raid Boss. Before a battle begins, all Pokémon assigned to the gym to return to their trainers and a large egg appears above the gym from which the boss will be revealed. Players will need a Raid Pass to battle a boss. For beating a boss, players are rewarded with rare candies, golden razz berries, and items to permanently teach a Pokémon a new fast or charged attack.

In addition to the cooperative feature, players will soon be able to spin the photo disk at gyms to get items, the same as at Pokéstops. Furthermore, gyms will no longer be based on prestige and training rather they will feature six permanent slots that can be filled by the controlling team’s Pokémon. There will also be a change to how players interact with gyms with the introduction of a motivation meter for Pokémon assigned to gyms. The pocket monsters lose motivation, and see CP decrease, when they are defeated in battle.

On top of that, players will now be able to earn gym badges as mementos for their in-game successes.

In order to put the changes in place, Niantic will be temporarily disabling all gyms until the updates have rolled out across the world. Raid Battles will be rolled out over the next few weeks, starting in beta before slowly being rolled out to all players.

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Pokémon Go

The collaboration will see Niantic’s gaming experiences, including Ingress and Pokémon Go, leveraged at select community events supported by Knight Foundation. These events will feature Niantic launching special AR content specific to the events.

The first event that the collaboration will work on will be on 7 May in Charlotte, North Carolina as part of the Open Streets 704 event. This will see fans of Pokémon Go gaining access to 16 Pokéstops and two gyms at significant sites along the route.

“Our founders, Jack and Jim Knight, embraced technology in their newspaper business. They recognized that openness to new technology was critical to building and a sustaining a thriving and resilient business. It’s clear in our turbulent, rapidly changing present that technology will remake our world and our communities—whether we’re ready or not,” said Sam Gill, VP for learning and impact at Knight Foundation.

“We try to embrace that same openness at the Knight Foundation of today, and it led us to partner with Niantic to jointly explore the ways in which technology like Pokémon Go might enliven and engage public life in our communities.”

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Running until 1pm PDT on 20 April 2017, the Eggstravaganza will offer players a greater variety of Pokémon available to be found in 2km eggs, and also reward players with more candy for every egg that they hatch.

In addition, throughout the special event, players will be able level up faster with double XP – with the opportunity to earn four times the normal XP if they hatch a lucky egg, which are 50 per cent off from the in-game shop.

“Lace up your walking shoes and get ready to put a spring in your step—the Pokémon GO Eggstravaganza is nearly here,” said the Pokémon Go team in a post. “Get out there, hatch some eggs, and share your stories with us using #PokemonGo on your favourite social media channels.”

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