LICENSING NEWS

Warner Bros. launches Wizards Unite game

Published on: 21st June 2019

The new game is expected to send sales of Wizarding World merchandise and toys soaring even further. 

Warner Bros. Games and Niantic have officially launched the new Wizards Unite game in the UK and US under their Portkey Games label.

According to the game’s official website, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite combines content and characters fans know and love from both the original Harry Potter series and the Fantastic Beasts films in a unique Wizarding World experience. Players can prepare potions, brush up on spells and team up with witches and wizards from across the globe to solve the mystery of The Calamity, overcome the confounding chaotic magic that surrounds ‘Foundables’ –  magical artefacts, creatures, people, and even memories that have appeared in the Muggle world – and return them to their rightful place away from Muggle eyes.

Excitement for the game is already translating into increased sales for licencees of the Wizarding World property. Zappies, distributor of The Noble Collection Wizarding World merchandise and the Jakks Pacific Harry Potter ranges, has taken advantage of Warner Bros. social media campaign, reporting a doubling in the order book value (as of 19th June). Wow! Stuff’s Harry Potter Invisibility Cloak launched on the 19th of June in the UK, and recent NPD data shows that a Harry Potter toy is being sold every five minutes.

Nat Southworth, MD of Kids@Play, which offers a range of Harry Potter toys from plush to its famous animatronic Sorting Hat, commented: “If the Wizards Unite game does for Harry Potter what Pokémon Go did for toy sales, Harry Potter will be the No. 1 licence this year. If you look at the reaction to the trailer you get a sense of the existing fan base; there is a vast audience out there with an appetite for product crossing all ages.”

Fans can follow the game on Facebook here.

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