Niantic took the world by storm yesterday when it announced Harry Potter: Wizards Unite for mobile devices. As the first major release from the studio since Pokemon GO, there's a great deal of excitement surrounding the Harry Potter augmented reality game, though details on the project remain scarce. While that's still true, we now have a somewhat better idea of what to expect from the game when it launches next year.

Similarly to Pokemon GOHarry Potter: Wizards Unite will encourage players to explore real-life neighborhoods while they play the game. Instead of catching Pokemon, though, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will revolve around casting spells, collecting mysterious artifacts, discovering legendary beasts, and meeting iconic characters from J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World.

At the time of this writing, it's unclear which iconic characters will be featured in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite or what role they will play in the game. Perhaps the game will feature a faction system like the one in Pokemon GO, with recognizable characters serving as the leader of their respective faction. For example, gamers could be sorted into Gryffindor and interact with Harry himself or another notable member of the house, like Professor McGonagall or Albus Dumbledore.

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Of course, that's just speculation at this time. We won't know for sure how certain features will work in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite until Niantic or the recently formed Portkey Games decides to share more information. And unfortunately for anyone hoping to learn more about the game soon, we know that additional details aren't coming until some point in 2018.

While fans have to wait at least a few months to learn more about Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, information on other Harry Potter gaming projects may come sooner. A recent post on Pottermore teased that more information on Harry Potter video games from the Portkey Games label will come "really soon," and with both The Game Awards and the PlayStation Experience right around corner, it's not out of the realm of possibility that a game will be announced as early as next month.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is expected to launch in 2018 for Android and iOS mobile devices.