Another major license heads to Kinect with Harry Potter

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has announced a new Harry Potter game that will release exclusively for Xbox 360 and its Kinect motion sensing peripheral this autumn. This news follows not long after another major media franchise, Star Wars, made its debut on Kinect with an exclusive game -- after releasing last month, it became the top-selling title at retail in the U.S. during April (based on individual SKUs). Though Kinect seems to have received few exclusive hits in recent months, the success of licensed titles like Kinect Star Wars and potentially Harry Potter for Kinect could help raise the platform's profile and encourage publishers to bring more projects to it. Developed by British studio Eurocom (Goldeneye 007 for Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3), Harry Potter for Kinect is based on the Harry Potter's series eight films. Players will be able to use Kinect's technology to scan their faces and insert them in the game, and cast virtual spells with their physical movements and voice commands. Electronic Arts handled the previous movie tie-in games for Harry Potter, while Warner Bros.' subsidiary Traveller's Tales handled the licensed Lego Harry Potter titles.