Harry Potter: Magic Awakened Is China's Most Successful Game Launch This Year

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened has taken one of the world's biggest games markets by storm. The title launched in mainland China on September 9 and since then it has gone on to become the most successful game launch in the country this year.

Available on iOS, Android, and PC, the game is an RPG with card-based combat, and features a number of mini-games. You play a school wizard or witch attending Hogwarts and there are various customisation options as players can choose what their character wears and looks like, and have a choice of owls and wands. Players wander Harry Potter locations such as Hogwarts and Diagon Alley and meet characters from the books such as Hagrid, Ollivander, and Professor McGonagall.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened was developed by NetEase, one of China's biggest games companies, with support from Portkey Games, a video games label from Warner Bros. that focuses on creating and overseeing IP related to the Harry Potter wizarding universe.

The game had a strong debut, taking number one on both the iOS game download and revenue charts, and stayed in those positions for seven days in a row, according to Niko Partners, a video games consultancy focused on Asia. Harry Potter: Magic Awakened contributed to NetEase's strong performance in its most recent financial quarter, with the company reporting online games revenue of $2.47 billion, which is up 14.7 percent compared to the same period last year. NetEase remains the number two games company in China, by market share, with Tencent still dominant.

In a blog post, Niko Partners noted that NetEase drove the game's success with a strong pre-release marketing campaign that led to 15 million pre-registrations. Online players were invited to join the game via a Hogwarts acceptance letter. This got people talking as it became a trending topic on Weibo (a leading Chinese social media platform) with over a billion views. Once players had downloaded the game they could create their character and were led to the sorting hat ceremony, and could chat with other players and even decorate their dorm room. This proved a hit with Chinese players as many of them shared their sorting hat experience on social media.

Harry Potter: Magic Awakened has been praised by players for its visuals and atmosphere. The gameplay includes PvP duelling, a rhythm dance mode, quidditch matches, and even a Forbidden Forest roguelike. The core game involves real-time battles, involving casting spells using cards, in the story mode. The game has not been without issue however, with players criticising aggressive in-game monetisation tactics and complaining that some aspects of the game, such as students using unforgivable curses, are not true to the novels.

Harry Potter is well known in China and has been popular ever since the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, was translated and published in the country in August 2000, two years following the English version. An estimated 200 million copies of the Harry Potter books have been sold in China, according to local media. In October Universal Studios Resort opened in Beijing, which includes Harry Potter attractions.

NetEase and Warner Bros. have confirmed that the game will arrive in international markets at a later date, while there will be launches in more countries in Asia this winter. "NetEase's greatest asset continues to be its strong self-development capabilities," Niko Partners said, in its blog post, noting that it has partnered with companies such as Marvel and Warner Bros. and that NetEase's capabilities " allows IP holders to reach the lucrative China market and for NetEase to expand its overseas presence."