There Goes Your Social Life: The Pokémon Go Creators Are Making a Harry Potter Game

It seems like ages ago that hordes of Pokémon hunters swarmed the streets to catch stray Pidgeys and Charmanders, but it's really only been a year or so. (And a lot of people are still playing — you guys get a Duskull last week?) Bad news if you thought you had kicked your augmented reality mobile game habit for good, though, because now Pokémon Go creators Niantic Labs have announced that they're working on an AR game called Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, inspired by the world of the Boy Who Lived and set to debut in 2018. Admit it, you're salivating like Fang when Hagrid cooks steak.

According to the game's new website, players will be able to explore the world around them "to discover mysterious artifacts, learn to cast spells, and encounter legendary beasts and iconic characters." Yes, yes, sounds good. What else? "The beloved Harry Potter stories have captured imaginations worldwide for more than 20 years and soon we'll turn the fantasy into augmented reality, allowing fans and their friends to become wizards and witches," said John Hanke, the CEO and founder of Niantic. Become witches and wizards, did you say? It's not a letter from Hogwarts, but it'll do.

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