Ever wanted to take the world of Hogwarts with you, wherever you want? Have a desire to spend time in your favorite house, dueling and brewing potions? Then Harry Potter: Magic Awakened will be right up your Diagon Alley. This mobile experience is a new, stylized take on the Wizarding World, featuring characters you'll remember, with fun and danger around every corner. Here's everything you need to know about Harry Potter: Magic Awakened.

What is Harry Potter: Magic Awakened?

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is a mobile game being developed by Netease and published by WB Games, as part of the company's Portkey Games label. While it's already available in parts of the world, with the upcoming global release, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened could end up as one of the best Android games available.

Portkey Games covers all games taking place in the Wizarding World that are published by WB Games. Other games published under Portkey Games include Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, as well as the upcoming action role-playing game Hogwarts Legacy. Hogwarts Legacy is being developed by Avalanche Software for PC and the latest consoles, including the PS5.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is an original story that takes place 10 years after the Battle of Hogwarts. As such, characters like Hagrid, Harry, and Hermoine all make appearances.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened Trailers

You can check out the CGI announcement trailer for Harry Potter: Magic Awakened above.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened Gameplay and features

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is described as a card collection game (CCG) and role-playing game (RPG) hybrid, fusing multiple genres and elements together. The game uses stylized art direction, so instead of aiming to look realistic, it captures an otherworldly side of Hogwarts and its denizens, an art style that fits given the card-based nature of the gameplay.

In the game, players will customize a new student at Hogwarts, including picking which house they belong to: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. You can shop at Diagon Alley for your new wizard or witch, getting the broom and wand that best fits you.

From there, players focus on building a deck by collecting cards, which they can then use in battle, casting magic spells and charms, or summoning powerful magical creatures. Cards are earned by attending classes, brewing potions, and studying. There's both player vs. environment (PVE) and player vs. player (PVP) gameplay, so you can take on the AI or even real opponents in 1v1 or 2v2 duels in the Duelling Club.

Other recreations at Hogwarts include playing Quidditch, competing to earn points for the House Cup, and even dancing at the Ball. Outside of Hogwarts, you're free to enter the dangerous Forbidden Forest. While perilous, this is the way to earn special rewards that can't be found anywhere else.

While Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is coming to Android devices, no minimum requirements have been shared yet. Still, it's somewhat fair to expect that the game will run better if you've got one of the best Android phones available.

Is Harry Potter: Magic Awakened Free-to-play?

Yes, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is a free-to-play mobile game, so if you don't want to, you won't have to pay a penny. That said, it does include in-app purchases or microtransactions. We don't really know the scale of these yet, so it's not clear if they affect the flow of the gameplay or are limited to more cosmetic extras. Shopping in Diagon Alley is mentioned, so it seems at least somewhat likely that the game includes cosmetic microtransactions, but we'll have to wait to learn more.

Many mobile games incorporate microtransactions in a way that never feels harmful, but many more games use predatory practices, gating things behind artificial timed barriers.

Is J.K. Rowling involved with Harry Potter: Magic Awakened?

Author J.K. Rowling has been saying derogatory, transphobic things across the internet for a while now, going so far as to write a book on it. As a result, many Harry Potter fans are going out of their way as to not take part in anything new that Rowling has a direct hand in creating.

While Harry Potter: Magic Awakened obviously takes place in the Wizarding World and is "inspired by J.K. Rowling's original stories," Rowling herself does not appear to be involved with any work for the game. With that in mind, she will almost certainly make money from the game, given her continued control over the Wizarding World IP.

If you want, you can donate to the National Center for Transgender Equality, GLAAD, Mermaids, Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund, and several other charities and organizations to support transgender people.

When is Harry Potter: Magic Awakened's release date?

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is currently slated to launch worldwide at some point in 2022, though there's no exact release date. Given the continually-tenuous nature of game development, especially with delays induced by the pandemic over the last couple of years, we'll have to wait and see if Harry Potter: Magic Awakened actually makes this tentative release window.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened received a "soft launch" on Sep. 9, 2021. A soft launch means that like most big mobile games, the developers are testing the game with a smaller audience, so instead of being available globally all at once, the game is launched in a handful of countries before releasing anywhere else. Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is currently available in China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened

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