Claim: Pokémon Go developer Niantic is working on a Harry Potter version of the hugely popular augmented-reality game.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
text: and encountering iconic characters and legendary beasts from the "Harry Potter" universe. Niantic has revealed the game will draw inspiration from previous AR games "Pokémon Go" and "Ingress". With Niantic's purchase of Escher Reality, the game is expected to implement new technology to allow for persistent worlds within AR. On November 14, 2018, it was confirmed that the game will be released in 2019. "Wizards Unite" gameplay has been described as similar to that of "Pokémon Go", with players able to view the gameplay world through a smartphone. The game will allow players to fight against mythical beasts from both

title: Niantic (company)
text: 2015, it was announced that Niantic was developing "Pokémon Go" in partnership with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android devices. The game was initially released in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States in July 2016 (and released to much of the rest of the world throughout the remainder of 2016), where it became an overnight global phenomenon, significantly increasing the use and visibility of augmented reality technology. In addition to topping app store charts in most regions, Apple Inc. announced that "Pokémon Go" had become the most downloaded app in a first week ever, which was

title: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
text: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is an upcoming free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game inspired by the Wizarding World. The game is being developed by WB Games San Francisco and Niantic, and published by Niantic. It is planned to launch on Android and iOS mobile devices, and is expected to use augmented reality similar to Niantic's previous release, "Pokémon Go". "Wizards Unite" was announced on November 8, 2017, as an augmented reality mobile game developed by WB Games San Francisco, Portkey Games, and Niantic. Players will be able to visit real-world locations while casting spells, discovering mysterious artifacts,

title: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
text: the "Harry Potter" and "Fantastic Beasts" franchises. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is an upcoming free-to-play, location-based augmented reality game inspired by the Wizarding World. The game is being developed by WB Games San Francisco and Niantic, and published by Niantic. It is planned to launch on Android and iOS mobile devices, and is expected to use augmented reality similar to Niantic's previous release, "Pokémon Go". "Wizards Unite" was announced on November 8, 2017, as an augmented reality mobile game developed by WB Games San Francisco, Portkey Games, and Niantic. Players will be able to visit real-world

title: Harry Potter video games
text: freemium games, such as wait timers, and microtransactions. Following the release of "Pokémon Go", Niantic is scheduled to release "", a similarly augmented reality game to that of "Go", allowing players to see the gameworld through a smartphone in 2019. In addition to game releases, there have been collection titles for the releases of Harry Potter games. In 2005, "World of Harry Potter" was released for PC, containing all of the first four novel games, and the "Quiddich World Cup" game. In 2007, a PlayStation 2 collection known as "Harry Potter Collection", releasing the first three games. In Harry Potter

title: Niantic (company)
text: will be revealed in 2018. In June 2018, Niantic shared a sneak peek behind the technology they have been developing for years: the Niantic Real World Platform. The core platform consists of a suite of tools including: AR Cloud, anti-cheat security, POI data, IAP, social, analytics, CRM, sponsorship, and more. Niantic mentioned that they intend to open up the platform in the future for use by third party developers. Niantic (company) Niantic, Inc. is an American software development company based in San Francisco, which is best known for developing the augmented reality mobile games "Ingress", "Pokémon Go", and the upcoming

title: Niantic (company)
text: Go" has established several partnerships around the globe among which include Sprint and Starbucks in the United States, Reliance Jio in India, and Unibail-Rodamco in Europe. In November 2017, it was announced that Niantic was developing "" in partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and WB Games San Francisco, under the Portkey Games banner. The game, inspired by J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World and Harry Potter, is said to allow players to "explore real-world neighbourhoods and cities to discover mysterious artifacts, learn to cast spells, and encounter legendary beasts and iconic characters along the way". It was announced that additional details

title: Pokémon Go
text: Pokémon Go Pokémon Go is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed and published by Niantic for iOS and Android devices. A part of the "Pokémon" franchise, it was first released in certain countries in July 2016, and in other regions over the next few months. The game is the result of a collaboration between Niantic and Nintendo by way of The Pokémon Company. It uses the mobile device GPS to locate, capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon, which appear as if they are in the player's real-world location. The game is free to play; it uses a

title: Pokémon Go
text: multiple search apps and sites, including Pokévision, were disabled as they violated Niantic's terms of service. Pokémon Go Pokémon Go is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game developed and published by Niantic for iOS and Android devices. A part of the "Pokémon" franchise, it was first released in certain countries in July 2016, and in other regions over the next few months. The game is the result of a collaboration between Niantic and Nintendo by way of The Pokémon Company. It uses the mobile device GPS to locate, capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon, which appear as if

title: Nintendo mobile games
text: Heron and released to mobile devices in early 2016 in Japan, and later worldwide in 2017. "Pokémon Go" was developed by Niantic, and was released for mobile devices in July 2016. "Pokémon Go" is an augmented reality game, having players seek and try to capture virtual Pokémon marked at real-world locations. The game was available as a free-to-play download, using in-app purchases to buy Poké Balls for capturing Pokémon and other in-game boosts. The game was considered a worldwide success; by September 2016, it had been downloaded over 500 million times worldwide, and became the fastest game to make over

title: Niantic (company)
text: Niantic (company) Niantic, Inc. is an American software development company based in San Francisco, which is best known for developing the augmented reality mobile games "Ingress", "Pokémon Go", and the upcoming "". The company was formed as Niantic Labs in 2010 as an internal startup within Google. The company became an independent entity in October 2015. The company was formed in 2010 by John Hanke as Niantic Labs, an internal startup within Google. The company took its name from the whaling vessel "Niantic", which came to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush in the 1800s. At the time Ingress

title: Pokémon Go
text: the Gujarat High Court issued a notice to Niantic, the developer of the popular AR-based game, on the grounds of "posing danger to public safety. The notice was issued on a PIL (Public Interest Litigation) seeking ban on the location-based AR reality game in India. In addition, a second PIL was filed against the developers of "Pokémon Go" for hurting religious sentiments by showing images of eggs in places of worship of different religious groups. But the Indian Government refused to ban the game. Multiple unofficial, third-party apps were created to correspond with "Pokémon Go". Notable apps include "Poké Radar"

title: Niantic (company)
text: the game branded as "Ingress Prime". Prime is completely rewritten and Niantic used critical learnings gained from "Pokémon GO" and "Ingress" for its development. Niantic also retained the older Ingress game as a separate download named "Scanner [REDACTED]". The intention of the older Ingress game is to help aid the transition to Prime as feature parity is reached between both games in 2019. Niantic's second announced (but currently unreleased) mobile game, "Endgame", is a transmedia storytelling project consisting of an alternate reality game, "Endgame: Ancient Truth", novels by James Frey starting with "", and the mobile app, "". In September

title: Niantic (company)
text: investment was made by IVP with Samsung and aXiomatic Gaming. Niantic's first product, published in 2012, was "Field Trip", a location-based mobile app which acted as "your guide to the cool, hidden, and unique things in the world around you." Niantic's first augmented reality game "Ingress" was initially made available on Android by invitation only in November 2012 then released publicly in October 2013. An iOS version was released in July 2014. Initially, Niantic had taken an alternative approach to monetization, veering away from more traditional mobile application development standards such as ad placements and in-app purchases. However, following the

title: Harry Potter video games
text: following two year, 2012, and 2013, saw two augmented reality game be created, titled "Book of Spells", and "Book of Potions", both for PlayStation 3. The games used the PlayStation Move controller, as well as the Wonderbook accessory for the PlayStation Eye. The Wonderbook accessory was brought out in conjuncture with "Book of Spells", allowing players to see an augmented reality version of real life books. 2017 saw the launch of two Harry Potter - themed character packs for a Toys-to-life console video game Lego Dimensions, released two years prior. One contained Lego figurines of Harry, Voldemort, mini Ford Anglia

title: John Hanke
text: his gaming roots, the company crafted an augmented reality location-based multiplayer game called "Ingress". The game had a million players within a year of its 2013 release, and seven million by 2015. Hanke led Niantic's split from Google in late 2015 and raised $30 million from Google, Nintendo and Pokémon. He stayed as the company's chief executive and guided the firm through the release of the much-covered "Pokémon Go" in July 2016, which now generates more than $2 million in daily revenues. John Hanke John Hanke (born 1967) is an American entrepreneur and business executive. He is the founder and

title: Spark Capital
text: Capital led a Series B funding round for Niantic, a software development company which developed augmented reality mobile games Pokémon Go and Ingress on November 2017. As part of the $200 million funding deal, Spark's partner Megan Quinn joined Niantic's board. Spark Capital Spark Capital is a venture capital in the United States, responsible for early stage funding of numerous successful startups including Twitter, Tumblr, Oculus, Warby Parker, Cruise, Slack, and others. It has branches in Boston, San Francisco, and New York City. Spark Capital was launched in 2005 by Paul Conway, Santo Politi, and Todd Dagres. They have raised

title: Harry Potter video games
text: to fans of the Boy Who Lived." The "Official Nintendo Magazine" gave the Wii and DS version 80%, saying that it was "one of the best Harry Potter games ever", however it lacked originality compared to previous Lego video games. Besides the Lego Harry Potter titles, two titles released for the PlayStation 3, using augmented reality. "Book of Potions" and "Book of Spells" both built for the Wonderbook received mixed reviews from critics, specifically for the games' short length, but commended use of the augmented reality within the games. Alex Simmons of "IGN" commented that "Book of Spells" was "shallow

title: Niantic (company)
text: social systems. At the time of the acquisition, Evertoon was only 18 months old and had only 5 employees. In February 2018, Niantic announced that it had acquired augmented reality company Escher Reality, a team focused on building persistent, cross platform, multi-user experiences. Hanke stated that Niantic planned to allow third-party developers to build AR games similar to Pokémon Go. In June 2018, Niantic announced the acquisition of computer vision and machine learning company Matrix Mill. The Matrix Mill team has spent years focusing on perfecting augmented reality occlusion by building deep neural networks that can infer 3D information about

title: Niantic (company)
text: players had collectively walked further than the distance to Pluto. By the end of February 2017, "Pokémon Go" had surpassed over 650 million downloads. During "Pokémon Go"s Adventure Week in-game promo in May 2017, Niantic announced that players had collectively walked over 15.8 billion kilometers, roughly the distance from Earth past the edge of the solar system. On June 8, 2017, it was revealed that "Pokémon Go" had been downloaded over 750 million times globally. Like "Ingress", "Pokémon Go" has a similar approach to monetization. The game has two main revenue streams, in-app purchases and regional partnerships. To date, "Pokémon