After the dizzying success of Pokémon Go , you might think that it’s only a matter of time before we see ‘Harry Potter Go’ – an augmented reality game set within JK Rowling’s magical universe. It’s worth remembering that Pokémon’s popularity had certainly waned since its peak in the 90s, and yet its foray into augmented reality was a phenomenal success. The game has already been downloaded more than 100 million times and boasted 30 million daily users at its peak.
Harry Potter is an even bigger franchise – you only need to look at the sales for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to see that it is still exceptionally popular in the mainstream. This has the potential to be enormous, so it’s safe to assume that a Harry Potter augmented reality app will be coming to your phone pretty soon, right? Unfortunately it may not be so simple.
Although there were many positives that came from Pokemon Go, it wasn’t without controversy or safety concerns in some quarters. From being attacked physically to hacked virtually, any new game – such as Harry Potter or GoT would need to provide safety measures for protection online, as well as out on the road, where the dangers are clear.
Fake story
There was a flurry of excitements when it was reported on some news sites around the world that Pokémon Go’s creators Niantic had acquired the rights to create an augmented reality Harry Potter game. There were articles suggesting that we might see a Niantic-created Harry Potter app as early as 2017.
Unfortunately, however, it appears that these reports originated from a fake news website with no credible source. So even if there are plans currently in place to create a Harry Potter game to take the world by storm – it probably won’t be here any time soon. It took Niantic more than a year to develop Pokémon Go, so even if the app was commissioned now, we likely wouldn’t see it until winter next year at the earliest.
The idea is popular
That’s a shame because there is clearly traction in the idea. The Harry Potter fanbase is excited by the concept and a petition was launched to ask Warner Brothers to create the game. It attracted 60,000 signatures amongst a core of supporters.
And the timing could not be better for the franchise. For a number of years after the release of the seventh and final story in the Harry Potter series, the characters lay dormant with no word from JK Rowling. But recently there has been more activity including the release of the new play, the build-up to the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie and the expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Universal Studios theme park Orlando.
Now appears to be a perfect time. But there currently is no suggestion that Warner Bros are looking capitalize on this popularity.
Magus
But while dedicated Potter fans are forced to wait for the game of their dreams to arrive, there is something that they could potentially try in the meantime. Magus is an augmented reality game that has been in development for more than two years. While the game is unrelated to Harry Potter, many of themes are similar. Players are taken on the role of a wizard with their own wand.
Magus isn’t quite ready yet but it’s a long way along in the process – the success of Pokémon Go was coincidental to its development.
What will be the next augmented reality hit?
Pokémon Go wasn’t the first augmented reality game – but arguably it has been the first to truly popularise the concept. It’s rumored that Pokémon Go is making $10 million a day, so you can be sure that game and app makers around the world will be now looking for the next idea to be a huge augmented reality hit.
Some have suggested that large franchises like Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead could be the perfect basis for popular new games. Only time will tell.
