Niantic is the developer behind hit games like Pokémon GO and Ingress, but another game the company launched in 2017 was Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The unique selling point of Wizards Unite was that it made use of the same augmented reality technology that the company's other two games had implemented. However, it clearly wasn't as popular as the spontaneous summer wonder that Pokémon GO was in 2016, as Niantic has announced that Harry Potter: Wizards Unite will shut down on January 31, 2022.

Niantic has also announced that the game will be taken off of the App Store, Google Play Store, and the Galaxy Store on December 6th, 2021, and players will no longer be able to make in-game purchases. In the meantime, however, the company has announced that there will be a number of gameplay changes that have taken effect from November 2nd, 2021, and will be in place over the coming months until its shutdown. These aim to increase the playability of the game before its shutdown.

  • All Daily Assignments will have their rewards increased
  • All Potion Brew times will be reduced by 50% with Master Notes
  • The daily cap on sending and opening Gifts will be removed
  • Barrufio’s Brain Elixir potion will now award 3× player XP
  • 1920s Portkey Portmanteaus will appear on the map more frequently and associated Fragment rewards will be doubled
  • Spell Energy and Ingredients will appear on the map more frequently

The following events will also be taking place in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite over the coming months.

  • November
    • Dolores Umbridge Lethal Adversaries Event
    • Half-Blood Prince Brilliant Event Part 1
    • Lucius Malfoy Lethal Adversaries Event
    • Half-Blood Prince Brilliant Event Part 2
  • December
    • Bellatrix Lethal Adversaries Event
    • Horcrux Hunt Part 2
    • Voldemort Lethal Adversaries Event
    • Deathly Hallows Brilliant Event Part 1
    • Holiday Event
    • Deathly Hallows Brilliant Event Part 2
  • January
    • We’ll share more details regarding additional game changes that’ll happen during the month of January.

At the end of the announcement, the Harry Potter: Wizards Unite team took the opportunity to give thanks to "every single person in our amazing community of witches and wizards for adventuring with us out in the real world."