What you need to know
- 10,000 AT&T and Criket Wireless stores across the U.S. will become Fortresses and Inns in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.
- These Fortresses and Inns will offer additional rewards, more virtual enemies, and enahnced XP and spell energies.
- AT&T stores will become Fortresses starting June 21 and Cricket Wireless stores will become Inns starting July 15.
- Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is great and you should play it
Wizards Unite has only been live for a short time now but it is already showing itself to be an excellent augmented reality game. As the game was made by Niantic — the creators of Pokémon GO — Portkey games, and Warner Brothers Games San Fransisco, it stands to reason that AT&T — the company that owns Warner Bros. — would want to get a piece of the pie.
Niantic is teaming up with AT&T and Simon to bring Fortresses and Inns to more than 10,000 AT&T and Cricket Wireless stores around the country. Here's what Omar Tellez, Niantic vice president of strategic partnerships, had to say:
"We're excited to team up with AT&T and Simon to create a variety of custom Harry Potter: Wizards Unite gameplay experiences for players visiting the thousands of retail stores and large-scale shopping destinations around the United States. Real world games like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite are all about engaging with the world around you, creating new and unique opportunities for players to interact within their neighborhoods, towns and cities like never-before.
Fortresses and Inns are a special type of Point of Interest in Wizards Unite that allow you to fight Wizards Challenges and give you great reward and XP and spell energy boosts. These Fortresses and Inns will also increase the number of virtual enemies players can fight. By making all the AT&T stores in the U.S. into Fortresses, Niantic is increasing the number of Points of Interest considerably, something is sorely needed, especially in more rural areas.
Another great perk these points of interest will offer are exclusive quests that can level you up faster. AT&T stores will begin support for Fortresses starting June 21 and Cricket Wireless stores will become Inns starting July 15.
AT&T stores will now offer more than 25 exclusive Harry Potter: Wizards Unite products like battery packs along with a backdrop for the perfect picture opportunity. Cricket Wireless will begin offering $50 worth of in-game Galleons as a gift to new customers starting July 15.
In conjunction, over 200 Simon Malls Mills and Premium Outlets will also become sponsored Fotresses and Inns. These points of interested will see the same in-game benefits as the AT&T and Cricket Wireless stores.
While this is interesting news it shouldn't really come as a surprise. Niantic has a history of partnering with companies that have a large store base. In Pokémon GO, every Starbucks in the U.S. is a Pokéstop, so it stands to reason they would be willing to partner with another company to increase its playable areas in the game.
Probably the biggest reason though is AT&T own Warner Bros. and by extension WB Games San Fransisco. It makes perfect sense for the company to promote a game it profits from at stores it already owns. It really is a win-win for AT&T. We haven't been able to confirm if this has rolled out yet but it should be happening soon.
Harry Potter accessories we love
Hogwarts phone case ($10 at Amazon)
Show your love of the Potterverse, and protect your phone with this beautiful faux-leather case. The Hogwarts crest burns bright on the front with plenty of room inside for some cash and cards too.
RAVPower Ace ($40 at Amazon)
You don't want to run out of juice while battling baddies in Fortresses, now do you? Make sure you've got backup power with this quality but inexpensive
Hogwarts House PopSocket ($15 at Amazon)
Represent your house with a secure way to grip your phone while walking on your magical adventure casting spells and securing Foundables.
Harry Potter Over The Ear Headphones ($25 at Amazon)
Show your love of Harry Potter to the whole world, while shutting that same world out with these funky headphones from ihome.
