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'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' will track activity without running the app
Pokémon Go players have had the luxury of syncing their activity tracking with the game, but not Harry Potter: Wizards Unite fans. If you've wanted to unlock Portmanteaus or otherwise complete distance-based goals, you've had to keep the app running and kill your battery in the process. You might not have to put up with that for much longer, thankfully. Niantic has reportedly been emailing users promising that Adventure Sync is "coming soon" to Wizards Unite, letting players tie activity from their phone's fitness tracking to accomplishments in the game.
Join the first ‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’ community day tomorrow
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has been out for one month, and makers Ninantic and WB Games are ready to kick things up a notch. Tomorrow, they're launching the game's first community day. Similar to the way community days worked in Pokémon Go, tomorrow's event is meant to bring users together and will offer in-game bonuses -- like a chance to earn three-times Wizard XP when you down Baruffio Brain Elixir.
First 'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' festival occurs Labor Day weekend
Niantic promised real-world events for Harry Potter: Wizards Unite in the same vein as Pokémon Go Fests when it announced the game's official launch. Now the company has revealed that it has already scheduled the new game's first fan event for this Labor Day weekend (from August 31st to September 1st) at White River State Park in Indianapolis, Indiana.
A weekend with 'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite'
Mat Smith and Dan Cooper grew up in the UK at the right age to witness the birth of Pottermania. The Harry Potter novels are firmly encoded in their very British psyches, and both are fans of augmented reality, GPS-connected mobile games. So it made plenty of sense that they spend a weekend playing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. One of them is a convert; the other, a hater, so let's watch them hash this out -- politely, of course.
'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' rolls out to 25 more countries
If you were disappointed at being left out of the initial Harry Potter: Wizards Unite launch, don't worry -- there's a good chance you can play now. Niantic's augmented reality sorcery is now available on Android and iOS in 25 more countries. This includes Canada and Mexico in the Americas as well as several European and Scandinavian countries, including France, Ireland, Germany, Norway and Sweden. You can also expect to play in a handful of other places around the world, such as India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' is available to play a day early
Niantic's Harry Potter: Wizards Unite officially debuts on June 21st, but you won't have to wait until then to play if you live in the right country. The location-based game is already available for would-be Android and iOS spellcasters in the US and UK -- not surprisingly, Niantic is welcoming early adopters in a likely effort to minimize Pokémon Go-style server overloads. Australia and New Zealand have had the game for weeks in a pseudo-beta test, but Niantic is clearly expecting the broader launch to be particularly demanding.
'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' worldwide launch begins on June 21st
You'll be able to save Muggles from rogue magical creatures and misbehaving objects very soon: Niantic will finally start rolling out Harry Potter: Wizards Unite on June 21st. The company has announced the much-awaited mobile game's launch date outside Universal Studios' Wizarding World, telling attendees that it plans to hold events for it similar to Pokémon Go Fests. While the game will only come out in the US and the UK on Friday, it's just the beginning of its worldwide launch. Niantic plans to make it available in more regions in the future and promises to release more info when it goes live in other locations.
‘Pokémon Go’ creator buys hybrid board game company Sensible Object
Niantic, the company behind Pokémon Go, is up to something -- but exactly what is yet to be revealed. Following a number of AR and game company acquisitions over the last 18 months, Niantic has now purchased London-based Sensible Object, a games developer probably best known for blurring the lines between digital and table-top gaming.
Niantic sues group of alleged 'Pokémon Go' cheaters
It's not just multi-platform gaming giants suing cheaters. Niantic has sued members of Global++ for allegedly offering "unauthorized derivative" (read: hacked) versions of Pokémon Go, Ingress and even the still-in-beta Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The modified mobile apps not only violate intellectual property rights, Niantic said, but "undermine the integrity of the gaming experience" by helping players cheat. This hurts player enthusiasm for the games and thus could "interfere" with Niantic's business.
'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' is now beta testing in Australia and NZ
Niantic is giving Harry Potter fans in Australia and New Zealand the chance to be among the first to wave their augmented reality wands and vanquish rogue magical objects. The beta version of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is now live on the Apple App Store and Google Play in those two countries. Since it's just a test run, the company says the available features, languages, design and even the game's overall appearance aren't final -- they'll likely change based on the first players' feedback. Also, testers can expect to encounter bugs and unstable environments common to most beta software.
'Harry Potter: Wizards Unite' is about protecting muggles
We may not know when the new Harry Potter mobile game is coming, but we do have an inkling of what it'll be like when it arrives. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will focus on the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, hunting out and capturing rogue creatures, people and objects that have escaped from the wizarding world. You, as a new recruit to the team, will be tasked with protecting the muggle world from these calamities as they crop up.
Audible Latino launches with Spanish-language 'Harry Potter'
Audible now has a dedicated platform for Spanish-language audiobooks. It's called Audible Latino, and according to the company, it offers the largest selection of audiobooks in Español for fans in the US. The portal has launched with quite a few titles to choose from, but its crowning glory is definitely Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal aka Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone. It's performed by Puerto Rican actor Carlos Ponce, and it marks the first time the Spanish version of a Harry Potter book has officially been released in digital audio.
Barely Related: Night Vale travels to YouTube, UFO files
Partying is such sweet sorrow. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Barely Related: A nerdy year in review
Merrily Related to you all! This is a special edition of Barely Related, covering the stand-out stories of 2014, from May 2 onward (because that's when this whole column got started). This isn't all-encompassing, but it's a nice snapshot of our year in nerdery and geekdom – if you have a beloved bit of news not covered here, leave it in the comments with your commentary!
Barely Related: The Interview didn't go well
Happy holidays, everyone! Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Barely Related: The Little Prince trailer, Serial winds down
Remember when "squee" was a thing? Is it still a thing? Because we're feeling a little bit like doing that today. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Barely Related: Suicide Squad cast, Reynolds is Deadpool
This week, enjoy the good things, if you can. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Barely Related: Marvel movie madness, Harry Potter can rap
Happy Halloween, everyone! Stay safe and have fun. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Barely Related: Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer is full of surprises
Surprise! It's Friday! Now let's get down to some geeky business. Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
Barely Related: Marvel's Civil War, DC movies galore
Welcome to Barely Related, a conversational Friday column that presents the non-gaming news stories that we, the Joystiq staff, have been talking about over the past week. And no, we're not stopping our focus on industry and gaming news. Think of this as your casual weekly recap of interesting (and mostly geeky) news, presented just in time to fill your brain with things to discuss at all of those weekend shindigs. Grab a fresh drink, lean back in your armchair, and get ready to talk nerdy with us.
