The ‘Harry Potter’ version of ‘Pokémon Go’ is shutting down after making just $4.7 million this year

“Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” was modeled after Niantic’s smash hits “Ingress” and “Pokémon Go,” which faucet a smartphone’s digital camera and GPS to show the true world into a world sport board. Whereas “Go” lets gamers roughly “hunt” Pokémon in the true world by way of their screens, “Wizards Unite” put a “Harry Potter” pores and skin on the idea, permitting gamers to search out and battle the legendary beasts and darkish wizards from the fantasy collection whereas exploring their environment. 

Alas, “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” didn’t fairly seize the magic or the viewers of “Pokémon Go.” Whereas “Go” caught virtually $1 billion this 12 months alone, according to mobile analytics firm Sensor Tower, “Wizards Unite” has solely conjured $4.7 million from participant spending this 12 months, and $40 million since its June 2019 launch.

“After we launched Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, our imaginative and prescient was to permit gamers to expertise the wizarding world proper of their real-world environment as they stepped outdoors and explored their neighborhoods,” the developers said in a blog post. 

The assertion famous that the sport will formally shut on Jan. 31, 2022. However the overarching story, which sees Harry Potter and Hermione Granger ending a “calamity” and discovering 5 notable wizards who’ve gone lacking, can be wrapped up earlier than the sport goes offline for good.

What’s extra, the builders are including extra beneficiant in-game bonuses in order that gamers can wrap up the story line in time. They might want to spend their remaining in-game foreign money earlier than the sport shuts down, nonetheless, and so they will be unable to get a refund on previous purchases, besides the place in any other case required by regulation.