Warner Bros. establishes Harry Potter games label Portkey Games, announces Harry Potter: Wizards Unite for smartphones
New Harry Potter console games also on the way.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has announced the establishment of Portkey Games, a new label inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, which includes the likes of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts.
Portkey Games will release both mobile and console games that transport players into the Wizarding World, and feature both and familiar characters “at different points in their lives” from the Harry Potter series. Players will also be able to visit new locations and explore new story elements.
“With Portkey Games, we are thrilled to answer the fans’ requests for more games inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World,” Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad said in a press release. “We are working with talented creators to build games that focus on player-generated stories, which will live alongside the magical universe created by J.K. Rowling.”
The first title announced under the label is Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, an augmented reality game developed by Pokemon GO studio Niantic Labs. Here’s a brief overview of the game, via Warner Bros.:
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will reveal that magic is all around us, and allow players to be a part of Harry Potter‘s rich world, through Niantic’s AR + real-world mobile game platform and the franchise expertise of WB Games San Francisco’s development and publishing team. By exploring real-world neighborhoods and cities across the globe, players will go on adventures, learn and cast spells, discover mysterious artifacts, and encounter legendary beasts and iconic characters.
More information on Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will be announced in 2018. As for further Portkey Games developments, the official announcement teases, “Alas, this is all we can say for now. But we’ll be updating you on more Portkey developments very soon. Really soon, actually…” It should be noted, however, that the announcement of Portkey Games was made prior to the announcement of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, so this tease may simply be referring to that.