Niantic's Pokémon Go clone Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is shutting down

[midian182]

In brief: Although Niantic's Pokémon Go found worldwide success following its launch in 2016, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, a very similar title released by the company in 2019, never came close to matching its popularity. As such, it will be closing down in just over two months.

Like Pokémon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is an augmented reality game, this one set in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World and with more of a focus on the story. Niantic has announced that it will be removed from the App Store, Google Play, and Galaxy Store on December 6, 2021, and players will no longer be able to make in-game purchases as of that date.

"Not all games are meant to last forever," Niantic wrote in a statement. "Our goal...was to bring the magic of the wizarding world to life for millions of players as they stepped outside and explored their neighborhoods. We accomplished that together, delivering a two-year narrative story arc that will soon complete."

All features and servers for the game will be turned off on January 31, 2022, as will the community forum and all associated social media channels.

Using can keep playing the game until the end of January, and Niantic is adding in-game events throughout this month and December. There will also be several gameplay changes, including the cap on sending and opening gifts being removed.

Niantic never said why Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is closing down. Since release, it has lived in the shadow of Pokémon Go, and while the company never revealed official user figures, the newer game has 319,000 ratings on the Play Store while Pokémon Go has almost 15 million.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/92056-niantic-pokmon-go-clone-harry-potter-wizards-unite.html

 

[SirDigby]

Harry Potter as a franchise is long past its 'best by' date. The books and films captured the hearts of a generation but later generations don't care, this game was never going to have any staying power.

 

[Uncle Al]

Ohhhhhh ..... the are flushing the franchise? Right down the old Harry Potty for sure .......

 

[veLa]

Well, I never saw a lot of hype or advertising for it, usually a lack of awareness is a good indication that something won't be successful.

 

[Revolution 11]

Harry Potter as a franchise is long past its 'best by' date. The books and films captured the hearts of a generation but later generations don't care, this game was never going to have any staying power.

It doesn't help that JK Rowling, the author, has gone pretty off the rails with getting political and causing continuity issues with Cursed Child and the Fantastic Beasts films.

 

[SirDigby]

It doesn't help that JK Rowling, the author, has gone pretty off the rails with getting political and causing continuity issues with Cursed Child and the Fantastic Beasts films.

100%. And I saw the Cursed Child, what a f***ing waste of money that was, it had one good bit in it but the acting when we saw it was so God damn bad it was like a bad A level drama piece but with a huge budget. In fact all the A Level drama students I know are way better.