It’s difficult launching a mobile game into a genre that’s dominated by just a few major titles. It’s even more difficult when you’re launching a mobile game into a genre that’s dominated by just one major title, especially when that title has over 90% of the market share and is also developed by–wait for it–you. In this article, we will discuss the key factors and what makes an AR mobile game successful.
That’s the strange situation that Niantic, the developer of Pokémon Go, has found itself in. Its location-based AR game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, only launched in June 2019, but Niantic will close the game down for good on Jan 31, 2022 (In-app purchases and downloads have already ended).
While it’s not on the same scale as Pokémon, Harry Potter is still a massive IP with worldwide appeal. The books have sold over 500 million copies. People flock from all over the world to visit Harry Potter studios and attractions. There’s a hugely-anticipated RPG arriving on consoles next year and even a live-action TV series that’s reportedly in the works.
Yet, despite all of the hype around the Harry Potter universe, Wizards Unite wasn’t the success that Niantic hoped it would be. That got us thinking: what makes a successful location-based AR game? And what lessons can mobile developers learn from the reaction to Harry Potter: Wizards Unite?
Why Harry Potter: Wizards Unite didn’t make the cut
Wizards Unite launched with all of the hype you would expect for a Harry Potter game. Millions of players downloaded the game in its first week, generating a massive amount of daily revenue. This shows that even in 2019, there were plenty of Potter fans out there that wanted to give this a try.
But by the end of 2019, downloads and revenue started to fall. This downward slope continued (spare the occasional spikes for content updates and fixes) throughout 2020 and towards the end of its lifespan in 2021. For the last few months, Wizards Unite has been generating a few thousand in daily revenue every day.
This suggests that players were interested in trying the game, but there wasn’t enough content on offer to keep them playing. It could also be the case that the gameplay mechanics weren’t engaging enough to keep them hooked, and/or the game simply wasn’t what they were expecting. If we take a look at other location-based AR titles such as Pokémon Go and Dragon Quest Walk, we can see some key gameplay features and mechanics that could have been implemented in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite to keep players engaged.
The AR gameplay elements should match organically with the IP
In the Pokémon world, Ash and his Pokémon Pikachu travel across the land searching for Pokémon to capture, train and evolve. The franchise’s strapline is literally ‘gotta catch ‘em all,’ making it the perfect fit for an exploration AR game where you do just that; nothing ever feels forced in Pokémon Go.
Most of us who have played the original Game Boy games have at one point wondered what kind of Pokémon we’d find near us if they existed in real life and the AR tech in Pokémon Go makes this possible; the concept alone is an appealing offer to anyone that’s been vaguely curious about gaming and has a mobile phone in their pocket.
While Pokémon Go focuses on the simple premise of capturing Pokémon (and battling them in trainer battles in later updates), Wizards Unite focuses on casting spells to collect Foundables (wizards, creatures, and items), battling creatures, and completing assignments by interacting with buildings and objects. There’s more of a focus on completing tasks rather than exploring, which may feel repetitive to some players.
Ultimately, this makes Wizards Unite less suited for a location-based AR game compared to the perfect marriage of Pokemon Go and its location-based mechanics. Niantic tried to replicate the same collection of meta elements that made Pokémon Go a success – but Pokemon is a franchise that’s literally built around the premise of capturing and collecting things.
Another example of an AR game organically fusing with the core elements of its IP is Pikmin Bloom, also developed by Niantic. The Pikmin games started life on the Nintendo GameCube after Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto dreamt up the idea on his patio after watching an army of ants carrying leaves on their backs. The mobile game focuses on Pikmin’s core gameplay element of exploration.
AR games need to look colorful, engaging, and inviting
It’s hard to deny the irresistible cuteness of certain Pokémon such as Pikachu, Charmander, and Bulbasaur. In Pokémon Go, Niantic utilizes the unique visual styles, animations, and sound effects of Pokemon to make sure they don’t become boring or irritating despite the massive number of times you’ll encounter them (okay, maybe with the exception of Zuba)
While Pokemon Go’s world is full of bright colors, the design in Wizards Unite utilizes a lot of heavy colors such as dark browns, blues, and greys. That shouldn’t be too surprising; our first visual exposure to the Harry Potter universe was through the Warner Bros. films that seem to get darker after every release. This makes sense for the films due to the themes they’re depicting, but in Wizards Unite, the heavy colors result in a dark and less-engaging UI.
The gloomy look of the game will undoubtedly have a negative subconscious effect on its players after long gaming periods. Wizards Unite may have fared better if it utilized an alternative art style that a younger demographic of Harry Potter fans and new players would find more familiar.
Monetization elements should blend naturally with core gameplay mechanics
Pokémon Go’s daily revenue figures are nothing short of mind-blowing. The game has managed to generate over $2.5 million daily revenue on its good days and doesn’t struggle to generate over 1 million on most days. This is alongside the ad revenue it’s bringing in from companies that pay Niantic for sponsored locations in the game, encouraging players to visit their premises to capture Pokemon.
It’s impressive that Pokémon Go is still raking in massive amounts of daily revenue from players even years after its release, but its paid-for items that many players will recognize from the series are key to this. Go has its own in-game currency known as coins, which players can spend on a massive selection of items.
If you run out of Pokéballs to capture Pokémon with, you can simply buy more. Incense encourages more Pokémon to spawn near your location. Lucky eggs are essentially an exp. Boost items that double the amount of exp. you earn for the next 30 minutes after using them. Buying these items never feels invasive or predatory as you can often earn what you need just by walking around and exploring a little longer – but the option to utilize these shortcuts is there.
Niantic has tried to replicate these ideas in Wizards Unite but not with the same level of success. As an example, Pokémon uses an egg system where you need to walk a certain number of steps to hatch Pokémon. Incubators are the item you’ll need to use to hatch these eggs and they have three uses. In Wizards Unite, you’ll need to walk so many steps to unlock the Portkeys you’ve obtained. Unlocking these transfers the player to new areas where they can earn items, but the downside is that they can only be used once, rather than three times.
AR games must continue to evolve with new features that keep players engaged long after their release
There are nearly 900 Pokémon in the Pokémon universe, but less than 150 of these were available to capture in Pokémon Go when the game launched, and many of these were only obtainable in special events or by meeting certain gameplay requirements. Rather than Niantic giving everything players were expecting at launch, the developer has slowly trickled out new content over the years, leaving their players wanting more.
Social elements have been a huge part of Pokémon Go maintaining its success long after its launch. There are plenty of reasons why you should add social elements to your mobile game. Social elements are one of the biggest trends in casual mobile games right now as developers realize the benefits of creating shared experiences for their players. In June 2017, Niantic announced its gyms would be revamped to incorporate co-op battles, building on the competitive elements of Pokemon that players know and love.
These social gaming elements have continued to evolve over the years thanks to regular content updates, the biggest of which has arguably been its Raid Battles feature, which utilizes similar social and guild mechanics found in successful MMORPGs. It involves players teaming up with up to 19 other trainers to take down a massively overpowered boss Pokémon. At the end of the battle, players receive a selection of rewards depending on the rarity of the Pokémon they’ve taken down.
Similar raid and guild mechanics can be found in the top-three grossing AR title, Jurassic World Alive, which plays into the game’s social elements. Jurassic World Alive focuses on battling and capturing dinosaurs, but players can team up together to take down boss dinosaurs in raid battles or challenge others in PVP arenas.
While Harry Potter: Wizards Unite features social elements, a lot of these don’t impact the gameplay. You can join and even change houses in the mobile game but it doesn’t really do anything at all other than change how your character is presented in certain UI elements. Houses are an important part of the Harry Potter universe, so it’s strange that Niantic didn’t use these as an opportunity to incorporate competitive elements within the games – imagine if players could form house guilds and compete against other guilds in a battle for points?
The closest Wizards Unite got to embracing social elements is with its latest December 2021 content update which introduces the ability to message, discuss gift preferences and strategize wizarding challenges. As many players are pointing out in the forum, this is a welcome feature but it’s been added into the game too late.
The future of AR mobile games
It’s unlikely that anything will ever replicate the success of Pokémon Go in the AR world, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room in the market for new games that innovate in the genre while staying true to their core mechanics, but we’re yet to see a new IP find success in this competitive marketplace.
Take Dragon Quest: Walk as an example. It’s a well-established IP, especially in Japan, with the first game being released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986. As a location-based game with turn-based battles, Dragon Quest: Walk doesn’t stray from the turn-based RPG mechanics that its core fanbase will be familiar with. And while it uses a lot of the same elements and gameplay mechanics found in Pokémon Go, the game’s primary focus is on battling rather than collecting.
Pikmin Bloom, which has also been a hit with players in Japan, is more of a fitness app based around collectible systems, so it actually drops a lot of the core puzzle mechanics that the console games are based around. It’s definitely catering towards the needs of players looking for a more relaxed gaming experience, as players can journal their progress at the end of every playing day.
With the AR marketplace dominated by just a small handful of major titles, it’s unlikely we’ll see new IP make a dent in the market without the backing of a global franchise behind them. That said, mobile developers wishing to explore the location-based AR space should pay attention to the gameplay features and elements that are making titles such as Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom, and Dragon Quest: Walk a success, and be sure to implement these in their own location-based AR games.
The article is written by Teemu Palomäki – Game Analyst at GameRefinery & Co-founder and Character Artist at Evocat Games.
What are your thoughts on the opinion put forward by GameRefinery on the key factors that make a successful AR mobile game? Let us know in the comment section below!
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