By IVY VELAZQUEZ

Niantic and Nintendo released Pokemon Go in 2016. The location-based augmented reality game quickly became popular and it wasn’t long before other fandoms began wanting something similar. In fall 2017, an announcement of a new mobile game had Harry Potter fans excited about their very own “Harry Potter Go”. But it turns out that Warner Bros. and Portkey Games had ideas for another game as well.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is the first Wizarding World game in which players can create their own character and play as a Hogwarts student. Players of the RPG will be able to pick their own House and be part of a whole new story, set after Harry Potter’s birth but before his arrival at the wizarding school.

This timeline means that players will be able to meet characters such as Bill Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks during their years as students. The game is also going to be decision-based, so your choices will determine how your quests go and how other characters interact with you. You decide if you want to be good or evil.

Not long after the initial teaser came out for the new game, it was discovered that an “unofficial” version of the game was available for download, a beta version available for testing. This caused some confusion, as some people mistakenly believed that the game had already been released but only in certain countries. It also had a lot of players spamming the Facebook page with comments about all of the bugs. But, as it is a beta version and still going through a lot of updates, it is normal for some things to be wrong with the gameplay.

To be clear, this does not mean that Harry Potter Go is not still in development. In fact, it is set to come out later in 2018.Though a specific release date is not yet known for this game, the fact that it’s later in the year is well-timed, as the new Fantastic Beasts movie is set to come out this November. What better way to build excitement for the new movie than to release a game that may possibly be all about discovering the very fantastic beasts that populate the films?

Announced by Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery developer Jam City at Universal Orlando’s A Celebration of Harry Potter, fans were told that the game would be released this spring. An official release date is just around the corner at this point.

Platforms supporting the game will include Android and iOS, with Android getting the initial release (sorry Apple users). Fans can register for the game now by going into their app store, looking up the game, and hitting pre-register. This will allow you to know exactly when the game is available for download. The game itself will be free to play, with optional in-app purchases.

With Hogwarts Mystery, the AR-focused game, and the new Fantastic Beasts movie coming out this year, it’s looking like 2018 will be a good one for the both the franchise and its fans.

Ivy Velazquez can be reached at ivy.velazquez@theminaretonline.com