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Harry Potter: Wizards Unite mobile game gets trailer, opens for signups

Soon you will be able to prove your witchcraft and wizardry chops with a game from the creators of Pokemon Go.

Katie Collins Senior European Correspondent
Katie a UK-based news reporter and features writer. Officially, she is CNET's European correspondent, covering tech policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she serves as CNET's Taylor Swift correspondent. You can also find her writing about tech for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described a "living synth" by London's Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.
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Katie Collins
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Wands at the ready!

 Warner Brothers/Niantic

Do you have what it takes to protect the wizarding world from detection by nosy, interfering muggles?

Soon you'll be able to find out with the launch of augmented reality mobile game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Warner Brothers, in partnership with Niantic -- creators of the phenomenally popular Pokemon Go -- announced the game in 2017, and on Wednesday released a trailer for the game on Twitter. The game will be available sometime in 2019, a year after it was originally scheduled for release.

"As a member of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force (a new task force formed in partnership between the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards) you will hone lightning fast wand reflexes, an ability to sniff out the faintest whiff of magical disorder from afar, and proficiency in advanced casting of multiple spells," says a blurb on the game's official website.

But aside from this teaser, there's still a fair amount of mystery surrounding the game, and its secrets likely won't be revealed in full until launch. What we do know is that the game will be fully rooted in the magical universe of Harry Potter, although it isn't adapted from any of the existing books or films. Author of the source material J.K Rowling has also not been directly involved in the development of the game, although she did fashion the lore out of which the game comes -- so her indirect influence will no doubt be apparent.

Early signup is available now through the game's website, which tells future players to "brush up on your spells, get your wand ready, and enlist immediately."

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