Niantic’s Harry Potter: Wizards Unite mobile game has officially shut down as of 12:01am local time on January 31st.
The company had confirmed this date back in November, and now, it’s finally here.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will officially close at 12:01 a.m. local time on Jan. 31, 2022. We sincerely thank all of our fans who have enjoyed the game. pic.twitter.com/WFvMlNcgpl
— Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (@HPWizardsUnite) January 28, 2022
Original story below:
Niantic has confirmed that it will soon be discontinuing its Harry Potter: Wizards Unite mobile game.
In a blog post, the San Francisco-based gaming giant said Wizards Unite will be delisted from the App Store and Play Store on December 6th, 2021, ahead of a full January 31st, 2022 shutdown. In-app purchases will also cease on December 6th.
Leading up to the shutdown, Niantic is offering bonus XP and other in-game rewards, as well as a promise that the game’s two-year narrative arc featuring Harry and Hermione will be resolved. A full breakdown of all of the gameplay changes taking effect starting today can be found here.
Wizards Unite originally launched in June 2019 as Warner Bros.’ response to Pokémon Go, also developed by Niantic. The game took the location-based, augmented reality framework of Pokémon Go and applied a Harry Potter coat of paint.
Set after the Battle of Hogwarts, Wizards Unite tasks players with going around to locate mystical creatures and items and “unconfound” them, as well as fight dark wizards. The game allows you to choose your wizarding house, their wand and their profession (Professor, Auror or Magizoologist).
However, the game just never seemed to quite take off, despite the massive popularity of the Harry Potter brand. According to the analytics firm Sensor Tower, Wizards Unite has only generated $4.7 million USD (about $5.9 million CAD) in revenue so far in 2021. By contrast, Pokémon Go has topped $1 billion USD (roughly 1.2 billion CAD) this year alone. Overall, Wizards Unite‘s to-date revenue sits at only $40 million USD (about $50 million CAD).
Looking ahead, Niantic says it has the recently launched Pikmin Bloom and the upcoming Transformers: Heavy Metal in the works. Of course, the ever-popular Pokémon Go will also continue to receive support.
Altogether, the company notes that it has “nine games and apps in our development pipeline.”
Image credit: Niantic/Warner Bros.
Source: Niantic
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