John Hanke, founder and CEO of Niantic and creator of Pokémon Go, speaking at the Mobile World Congress in 2017.

Out of nowhere in July 2016, Pokémon Go became perhaps the most unique, if not the biggest-ever, hit in mobile gaming, eventually hitting 600 million total downloads and bringing in more than $2.5 billion in revenue. Its successor is soon to try and repeat the magic in the world of Muggles: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.

Its release later this year will test the ability of the game's maker, Niantic, and its augmented reality and geolocation-based gaming technology to do something twice that no gaming company has ever accomplished: Get people not just off the couch but out of the house.

Instead of staying glued to screens, the global mystery game — which will launch in 19 languages — will let players explore real-world surroundings, cast spells, and encounter fantastic beasts and iconic characters from the Harry Potter films along the way. It is an idea Niantic CEO John Hanke refers to as "real-world social."

I.e. "old-world" social.

"We want to get people out and about and find out more about their world through exploration and discovery," said Niantic's chief marketing officer, Mike Quigley.

He said that every Niantic project is built on three ideas: exploration, exercise, and real-world social: "Get together in the world and have real human interaction."

Hanke was motivated to create games that promote physical movement when he saw technology's sedentary effects on his own children's generation. Eighty-five percent of Pokémon Go and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite gameplay require the user to be outside.

Niantic, which ranked No. 38 on the 2019 CNBC Disruptor 50 list, was formed nine years ago as a start-up inside of Google called Niantic Labs and was spun out in 2015 with investments from Google, The Pokémon Company, and Nintendo, when Google reorganized under new parent Alphabet.

The new game is a joint development with AT&T-owned Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and will be part of the WB label Portkey Games, which is dedicated to content from J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World.