開発元であるナイアンティック社のハンケCEOが、ファイナンシャル・タイムズとのインタビューで明かしたもの。
同氏は
The next big game Niantic has announced is based on the Harry Potter franchise. Mr Hanke said Niantic teamed up with Warner Bros to develop a title for the series because ? like Pokemon Go ? it is a “real rarity” that has the potential to appeal “across generations”, to women as much as men and to players all over the world.
Harry Potter also lends itself well to the augmented reality format that Niantic popularised with its original hit game, by inserting virtual objects into the real world as seen through the lens of a smartphone camera.
“The ‘muggle’ world and the wizarding world are only separated by this thin veil,” Mr Hanke said. “It’s very easy for us to imagine bringing that kind of magic into our everyday lives?.?.?.?It would be much harder to bring a convincing Star Wars game into AR in any way that is not just a gimmick.”
The Harry Potter game is scheduled for release in the second half of 2018. Since Pokemon Go’s sometimes chaotic debut ? during which servers were overloaded by demand, causing recurring service outages ? Niantic is “so much better positioned” now, Mr Hanke said.
The lessons from Pokemon Go were not just technical, though.
“In terms of dealing with public locations, government policy, regulations and public reaction to people being out in the real world [playing its games], we have built up our expertise there,” he said, so that in-game hotspots that cause real-world problems can be removed or changed.
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Many analysts tip 2018 to be a turning point for the augmented reality industry. Apple, Google, Facebook and Snap have all released new platforms for developers to create AR experiences in recent months.
Magic Leap, the secretive Google and Alibaba-backed start-up, also plans to release a “creator edition” of its long-awaited AR goggles in 2018.
Apple’s ARkit technology was added to Pokemon Go in late December, allowing for more realistic positioning of its monsters on the street around the player and adding new gameplay features, such as having to sneak up on characters in order to catch them.
“We wished we had been able to do that at the very beginning of Pokemon Go,” Mr Hanke said. “That was always the vision but it wasn’t as convincing as we would have liked it to be ? it didn’t really feel like they were part of your world.”
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ポケGOのNianticによる『ハリー・ポッター』のスマホゲーム、今年後半にリリースへ
どんなゲーム内容になるのかな？
『ポケモンGO』で世界中に大ブームを巻き起こした開発元のNiantic（ナイアンティック）が昨年発表した、ハリー・ポッター題材の新ゲーム『Harry Potter : Wizards Unite』。こちらの配信時期について、NianticのCEOことジョン・ハンケ氏がThe Financial Timesのインタービューにて、2018年後半にリリースされると明かしました。
【画像】ポケGOのNianticによる『ハリー・ポッター』のスマホゲーム、今年後半にリリースへ
VR FOCUSが引用したインタビューの内容によると、ハンケ氏はタイトルの開発について「スター・ウォーズのARゲームを作るよりもずっと難しいね」と語っています。その理由は、ゲームの舞台が私達の世界に近いから。もちろんホグワーツ魔法魔術学校はこの世にありませんが、宇宙が舞台のゲームよりは緻密に世界観を構築する必要があるのでしょう。
またポケモンGOの運営の経験、たとえば公共機関や政府の対応、規制や一般人からの反応なども、タイトルに活かされるそうです。ポケモンGOでは爆発的なブームの影で、世界中でさまざまなトラブルが起きたのも事実。次回作では、このあたりもうまく運営してもらえるとプレーヤーとしても助かります。
なおインタビューでは、やはりゲームの詳細については明かされませんでした。初報では「呪文を学び、街を探索しながら伝説のビーストたちと戦い、強力な敵に仲間たちと立ち向かう」…と発表されており、さらにAR（拡張現実）技術の利用が期待される同タイトル。どんなゲームに仕上がるのか、はやく見せてほしいぞ！
