Pokémon GO has really changed the world, and it is really very young. It's only been around for a few weeks, and you can still see people wandering about with their mobile devices in search for Pokémon as well as other augmented reality bonuses like Gyms and more. I have stated before that the future of location based gaming means that every franchise is going to have something like this. For some reason, a rumor began that Harry Potter would have a Pokémon GO related application, but this has been deemed false.
This is one of those times where one has to wonder where this rumor has started. The site of NME states that Niantic, makers of the Pokémon GO game, were even in the process of developing this location-based game set in the Harry Potter universe. This was followed up with the "quote" of Niantic's senior developer Marcus Figueroa said the company had decided to create the game as "the demand for this title was absolutely insane, so we figured we'd give it a shot".
A recent article on Gizmodo has stated that Harry Potter won't be appearing in Pokémon GO form, at least for now. The article traces back where the source comes from HelloGiggles, then JTHX News, and the link back to the IGN interview with Marcus Figueroa just isn't there. Also those JTHX news posts look about as real as the ones on The Onion.
The idea of putting a location-based game into the Harry Potter universe sounds interesting. Perhaps you could wander around and search for magic, and even hunt down monsters. Hey, maybe you can track down Voldemort, or something Harry Potter related.
So, yes, a Harry Potter game could happen, but that doesn't mean that it will. Personally, I think Ghostbusters would make a better franchise for the location-based game. Just imagine going to real-life locations and catching augmented reality ghosts. You could put them in ghost-traps instead of Pokeballs, and may do that particle stream thing as an added bonus.
So what about Star Wars? Well, I suppose that you could go to places and catch...I don't know. Also, Star Trek would use...yeah, I'm spitballing here. One of the things about this location based augmented reality games is that perhaps they can simulated places as well as things.
So if they make a Harry Potter, Star Wars, or Star Trek game, it could have actual names on the Pokestops. So there could be a place that would be like Diagon Alley, or the Cantina from Mos Eisley, or something from Star Trek.
I think you see what I am saying, and I believe that the rumors of this Pokémon GO for Harry Potter won't be the only location based game you will hear about, and perhaps the next one will be true. Of course, it probably takes a lot of time to program one of these apps, so you might not see another Pokémon GO imitator for a while.
