Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has begun rolling out in the UK a day ahead of its scheduled Friday release date as it launches on Google Play and the App Store.

The highly anticipated game was co-developed and co-published by Pokemon Go maker Niantic and WB Games San Francisco as part of Portkey Games.

The location-based augmented reality title sees players take on the role of a new recruit of the Statute of Secrecy Task Force, as they seek to discover the mystery behind ‘The Calamity’, which has brought magical artefacts, creatures and people into the Muggle world.

Globally recognised IP

Anticipation around Niantic’s latest big licensed game has been high, particularly given the multi-billion dollar success of Pokemon Go since that title’s release in 2016. To date the game is estimated to have generated $2.6 billion from in-app purchases - not including money made from sponsored locations and real-world events.

According to Wikipedia, Pokemon is the most lucrative media franchise in the world, raking in an estimated $90 billion.

Harry Potter / Wizarding World is ranked at 11th, grossing an estimated $31 billion. That’s just shy of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s $32 billion, Mario’s $36 billion and Star Wars' $65 billion.

It is however ahead of franchises such as Spider-Man, Gundam, Batman and Dragon Ball - the latter IP proving to be highly lucrative fodder on mobile for Bandai Namco.

According to Sensor Tower, another Harry Potter title, Jam City’s Hogwarts Mystery, has generated approximately $110 million in revenue as on March 2019.

The game proved there’s clearly an audience of fans interested in playing mobile games based off the IP. Just how successful Niantic’s take on the franchise will be however remains to be seen.