Harry Potter: Wizards Unite launches this weekend

The world will soon be an even more crowded place. In addition to exotic matter (XM) and various species of Pokemon, it will soon be filled with Slimes, Creepers, and all sorts of creatures. That is the world stage that Niantic Labs will be launching its new game on this Friday. But unlike Pokemon and even more than Ingress, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite might be launching to a bigger and more receptive fanbase, raising the stakes even higher for the company.

Of course, it hasn't been a secret that Niantic Labs was making its third AR game as part of the Harry Potter franchise. It even started beta testing the game last month in New Zealand and Australia. There was a bit of mixed but mostly interested reception for the game and it seems that Niantic is ready to start rolling it out to the rest of the Muggle world.

Unlike the books and the films, the setting for Wizards Unite naturally takes place in our mundane world. Based on the beta test, it also leans heavily on a collection mechanic like Pokemon GO but actual gameplay is a bit more involved. Hopefully not as complicated and hifalutin like Ingress.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will start its rollout on June 21 but Niantic hasn't mentioned where exactly. It will start in the US and UK, of course, but like Pokemon GO worldwide reach can take more time.

Niantic doesn't have that large a window of opportunity to make this game big. Pokemon GO's success has many game developers and publishers wanting to take a piece of that AR pie, including Square Enix with its Dragon Quest Walk and Microsoft with Minecraft Earth.