On yet another swelteringly hot LA afternoon, I found myself wandering around a grey town with snowy rooftops and a pint of dubiously fizzy beer in hand. Why? It was the launch event for Niantic’s Pokémon Go follow-up, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, which following a beta in Australia and New Zealand, has finally been given a US and UK release date. That’s happening pretty soon, in fact – this Friday, 21st June.
Much of the gameplay on offer was close to what we’d seen in our previous Harry Potter: Wizards Unite hands-on back in March – and some core aspects of the game (such as fortresses and inn regeneration – the latter crucial for spell energy) remained frustratingly locked. But before I took the title for a test drive, I sat down with WB Games San Francisco executive producer Mary Casey, who I asked about skill trees, improving on Pokémon Go’s framework, and most importantly, why inter-House competition isn’t a focus of the game.
Will the game be released in a similar regional rollout to Pokémon Go?
Casey: The game is currently live in New Zealand and Australia, on the 21st the UK and US will join those two territories, and then we’ll do a regional roll-out from that point forward.
Do you know which regions will be next after that?
Casey: We haven’t announced our regional roll-out plan at the moment, but we’re really excited to bring the game to the UK and the US on Friday.
The other exciting news is the announcement of a Pokémon Go Fest-style event, is that going to be in the US or Europe to start?
Casey: We haven’t announced the location for the event as of now, but we’re super excited about it, obviously Niantic are pioneers of this type of event, fusing the real world and the game world together, and so everyone on the teams are absolutely stoked.
Is that going to function very similarly to how Fest works? For instance, exclusives and various goodies for people who visit?
Casey: We’re not releasing any details of the festival right now, but I can reassure you that anyone that goes will really have a brilliant time, and if anyone sees me out there please come and say hi, and thank you so much for supporting the game.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite | Launch Trailer Watch on YouTube
Could you explain a little bit about how monetisation is going to work? There’s obviously going to be customisation, but how will the monetisation impact the gameplay and how are you ensuring it’s fair?
Casey: Absolutely, so the game is free to play and free to download, there are microtransactions within the game, we have been really diligent about making everything in the game is accessible to everybody, and that the game remains fair and balanced for all players. If players did want to potentially speed up some parts of the game, then they would be able to do that by making some microtransactional purchases throughout the game, but game balance-wise, we ensure that the game remains playable to all without any of the purchases.
So to be clear, will all items in the shop that affect gameplay be earnable through playing the game?
Casey: Everything in the game is earnable.
Are there any elements of this game that can be played at home? With Pokémon Go you basically have to be out and about, but some people have said they’d like a bit more to do while they’re just sat down.