Harry Potter: Wizards Unite's Microtransactions Pricing Confirmed

Pokemon Go developer Niantic's AR game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is out now in Australia and New Zealand, at least in beta form. Major mobile titles often release in the ANZ region before coming to the United States, Europe, and other parts of the world, so this isn't uncommon. [Update: Wizards Unite is out now in the US and UK as well, a bit earlier than expected. Here are our hands-on impressions. Microtransaction pricing has changed since our first look at the AU version, as you'd expect. 80 gold can be had for $.99, while the most expensive option is 12,000 gold for $100. Of course, you can repeatedly buy gold, so there's not necessarily a limit to how much you can spend. You can get an idea of what that gold is spent on in the story below.]

Wizards Unite is available for free on iOS and Android. Because it is a beta, the game lacks some features, while the overall appearance and design is subject to change. Additionally, some languages that will be supported in the final release are unavailable now.

Players who get into the beta should also expect to run into some technical hiccups due to its unfinished state. Niantic said it hopes players communicate their feedback so the studio can make the game better for everyone when it's available worldwide.

Wizards Unite's beta already released in New Zealand in March. You may be able to change your country in the App Store and Google Play, but this doesn't always work.

Like Pokemon Go and other free-to-play titles, Wizards Unite is supported by microtransactions. Players can purchase "Gold" from Gringott's Bank in the game at multiple levels. The bundles range from 80 Gold ($1.50 AUD) to 10,000 Gold ($160 AUD). In addition, you can buy Anti-Calamity ($8 AUD) and Advanced Anti-Calamity Kits ($31 AUD). These kits come with allotments of Gold, potions, spell energy, and keys. Outside of the bundles, you can spend Gold on a huge variety of things, including Dark Detectors (reveals special items), Runestones (for Wizarding Challenges), Healing potions (restores stamina), and so much more.

Given that Wizards Unite remains in beta, pricing could change.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was originally scheduled to launch in 2018 before being delayed into this year. You can read more about the title in our hands-on impressions, and Android users can pre-register for it on Google Play. There is no word as of yet regarding when the final game will be available around the world.

While you may have to wait a while longer to play Wizards Unite, the other new Harry Potter mobile game, Hogwarts Mystery, is available around the world right now.