Is Harry Potter: Wizards Unite's Shutdown a Sign of Harry Potter Burnout?

| November 2, 2021 |

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Developer Niantic (the studio behind Pokémon Go ) has announced that they intend to shut down AR mobile game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite starting on January 31, 2022.

"Nosotros launched Harry Potter: Wizards Unite more two years ago, bringing together a community of witches and wizards from all over the globe in an epic quest to put an terminate to the Calamity and keep the wizarding world safe," says Niantic via a argument. "Non all games are meant to final forever. Our goal with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was to bring the magic of the wizarding world to life for millions of players as they stepped outside and explored their neighborhoods. We accomplished that together, delivering a two-year narrative story arc that will soon complete."

While Wizards Unite 's servers will be shut down on January 31 (meaning you will also no longer be able to download the game at that time), Niantic has confirmed that they will host a series of special events every bit well as offer a series of bonuses from now until so. Many of those bonuses go into event starting today (such as an increase to all Daily Assignment rewards and a global reduction to Potion Brew times), while others (like a Horcrux Hunt event) will begin starting in Dec.

For more information on Wizards Unite 's final days, be sure to cheque out this extensive guide posted on the game's website.

On the surface, this shutdown doesn't seem that dramatic. As Niantic says, Wizards Unite was always a more narrative-driven game than something like Pokémon Get , which led some to suspect that information technology might naturally have a shorter shelf life than some of Niantic's other titles. On top of that, yous can't overlook the fact that AR games similar Wizards Unite ofttimes struggled to adapt to restrictions acquired by the Covid-19 pandemic. That isn't to say that the events of the final year or so acquired this shutdown but rather that they nearly certainly negatively impacted this game'due south growth on some level.

Yet, it's difficult to talk about this decision and not wonder whether or non Wizards Unite 's shutdown has something to do with a widespread feeling of burnout towards the Harry Potter franchise as well as concerns regarding its place in the electric current cultural landscape.

To be clear, this isn't an attempt to somehow suggest that the Harry Potter franchise is annihilation less than a genuine global miracle that made an impact that volition likely echo throughout the ages. This also isn't an attempt to somehow diminish the artistic value of many entries into this franchise or somehow deny that the first seven Harry Potter books are anything less than some of the most beloved and rightfully well-regard pieces of pop culture ever released. Harry Potter was, is, and volition exist a meaning slice of pop civilisation for the foreseeable future.

While few will ever deny the history of the Harry Potter franchise, information technology does seem like more than people than ever are wondering how much the Harry Potter franchise needs to be an agile part of their free time and entertainment choices.

It'due south pretty much incommunicable to have this conversation without referencing the fact that J.Thou. Rowling's transphobic statements and other controversial viewpoints have inspired some to walk away from the Harry Potter franchise in recent years or at least await at the series a footling differently. Recent reports even suggest that some of those working on the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy RPG accept expressed discomfort over the idea of working on this franchise that is now so closely associated with its author'due south bluntly hateful views and various controversies. They're certainly not the just ones who feel a little more uncomfortable towards this series than they may take ever suspected they would be.

Harry Potter' southward electric current standing in the greater franchise hierarchy may be nigh more Rowling, though. Harry Potter -related releases have certainly been more desultory since the last book and the last film based on that book were released (which is understandable), simply what may be more than notable than the gap between major releases is the fact that the reception to many of the Harry Potter releases nosotros've gotten since has been divided at best. User and critic review scores for the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Observe Them movies have been shockingly depression, while some fans outright rejected Harry Potter and the Cursed Kid and essentially consider information technology to be a slice of fan fiction. If those works had 1 saving grace from a cultural standpoint, it was the fact that they were, by all accounts, financially successful.

That's what's interesting about Wizards Unite . While nosotros're waiting on a more official word on the app'due south exact lifetime revenue figures, most initial reports propose that they aren't especially noteworthy. If nothing else, it's easy to presume Niantic would not take shut this game down if it was a consistently strong acquirement generator, regardless of their insistence that it always had a shorter shelf life due to its design.

Maybe that'south the most notable thing well-nigh this game. Many of the first reactions to this news that I've seen are from those who had no thought it even existed, which is somewhat surprising in its ain right. It's rare for a Harry Potter -related release similar this to generate and so lilliputian buzz and make almost no notable affect, simply given the standards this franchise has ready, that's substantially what happened.

Franchise burnout can come from oversaturation, but it can just as hands come from a lack of interest in where a franchise is going and the lingering doubt that something is worth experiencing just because it has a recognizable name attached to it. I get the sense that there are more and more people waiting for a reason to intendance about this universe again and take instead found reasons to step away from it or possibly but devote their attention to other works.

Ultimately, this shutdown can likely be attributed to bad timing, a bad idea, or mayhap even burnout over Niantic'southward AR mobile games in the wake of Pokémon Go . This isn't the commencement such game they've had to shut down, and it likely won't be the last.

Withal, it might be saying something that this shutdown strengthens the idea that even the upcoming open up-world Harry Potter RPG Hogwarts Legacy (which was one time considered to exist a dream projection) doesn't experience similar as big of a surefire hitting as it may have at i point.