'Pokemon Go' developer Niantic and Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment are teaming up to make a “Harry Potter” augmented reality mobile game called “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite." USA TODAY

The creators of 2016 megahit Pokémon Go have found their next project: Harry Potter.

Game studio Niantic announced it will partner with Warner Bros. on a mobile augmented reality game based on the Harry Potter universe.

The game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is expected to launch next year.

Harry Potter appears to follow a similar style of play that made Pokémon Go wildly successful. Players will explore neighborhoods in search of spells to learn, creatures to battle, and artifacts to collect.

"Our goal is to leverage technology to create real world experiences that help people to discover the wonderful, and often magical parts of the world around them," said Niantic founder and CEO John Hanke in a statement.

Pokémon Go, which launched July 2016, featured creatures called Pokémon players could view through their smartphone camera, as if they were appearing in the real world. Users found Pokémon through a GPS map mirroring their local surroundings, tapping on creatures to capture.

It's likely Harry Potter adopts a similar model, where users can visit specific locations to discover items such as spells or artifacts, then leverage the smartphone's touchscreen to fight creatures with a series of spells cast by swiping.

Niantic and Warner Bros. have not specified exactly how the game's mechanics will work.

The Harry Potter game will serve as test of whether Niantic can strike viral lightning twice. When Pokémon Go launched during the summer of 2016, it was a viral phenomenon. Players crowded parks, downtown attractions, and other public locations seeking out Pokémon.

It set the record for first-week downloads on Apple's App Store last year, and became the fastest app to reach 50 million downloads. 

The game also pushed augmented reality into the mainstream, with companies including Apple, Google and Amazon incorporating the platform into their services.

But unlike many mobile games, Pokémon Go avoided a wave of copycat AR titles, largely because Niantic uses extensive mapping data difficult to replicate.

More: 'Pokémon Go' didn't unleash a wave of copycats. What happened?


Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

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