Not many franchises have been as wildly successful as Harry Potter. What started as an unassuming fantasy book series in the mid-1990s soon flourished into a multi-billion powerhouse.
The HP movie adaptations are still some of the highest-grossing films of all time (behind only the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars), and numerous spin-offs, stage plays, board games, theme parks, audiobooks, and other assorted merchandise have been mass-produced ever since.
Curiously, for all of its financial and critical accomplishments, Harry Potter has never had an equally relevant major video game title. That isn’t to say that there haven’t been Harry Potter video games – over ten of them have been released since 2001, not counting various simple web-based ones.
However, a real AAA title that does justice to the setting has still yet to be made.
However, this could all change soon. In early October 2018, footage of a – supposedly – in-development Harry Potter RPG was leaked on Reddit. The video looks graphically impressive and very promising gameplay-wise, so let’s go over the many rumors that have since cropped up concerning this project, and try to piece together what the game will be like when – or if – it comes out.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
While the heyday of Pottermania has long since passed, Harry Potter as a whole is a franchise that has still remained fairly popular and an important part of contemporary pop-culture. Not many works of fiction can claim to still be culturally significant more than a decade after ending.
Unlike, say, the Game of Thrones TV show, which almost seemed to disappear from public consciousness the moment the final episode aired (though to be fair, this is without a doubt due to the abysmal quality of that last season), Harry Potter seems to be here to stay. Fans are still arguing over which House they would get sorted into if they got the chance to enroll in Hogwarts, still dissecting character motivations and obsessing over plot holes.
Like J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, and Alan Moore’s Watchmen, it’s easy to think of Harry Potter as something that transcends generations and fads, and will still be read and watched decades from now.
Latest Developments
For the last several years, the Harry Potter brand has been primarily associated with two things – The Fantastic Beasts prequel film series (with five movies planned) and J. K. Rowling’s increasingly erratic online behavior and bizarre attempts at retconning her past work. As the author and principal architect of the HP setting, it’s no wonder that Rowling is so closely intertwined with her beloved creation.
But this approach can also come with its own set of drawbacks – especially if the author wants to use her opus as a soapbox from which to shout how socially aware she really is.
Fantastic Beasts
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – the second entry in the Fantastic Beasts film saga – is a good example of this. Rowling herself penned the screenplay for both of these movies, and, while the first one was an enjoyable enough fantasy romp not unlike the Harry Potter movies, the sequel highlighted all of her biggest flaws as a writer.
The Harry Potter setting was always a bit flimsy and full of inconsistencies – big and small – but these would rarely hamper your enjoyment unless you sat down to think about them. But The Crimes of Grindelwald has too many of these problems, pertaining to both the many plot holes and other characterization and narrative issues, to simply ignore it.
Perhaps this can be chalked up to her lack of formal screenwriting experience. After all, writing a screenplay is a different creative process than writing a book, and many (but not all) of these problems would probably be lessened if this was a novel instead of a film.
For the next, as of yet unnamed, third part, Rowling will co-author the screenplay with veteran Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Klowes, so there is hope that this movie – set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – will turn out better.
The Harry Potter RPG Leak
It all began on October 1st, 2018, when the footage of the alleged leak was posted on YouTube by a user named RastaPasta. This was the user’s first (and only) video, and the account was made solely to put up the Harry Potter RPG video, just over a minute long.
Shortly after this, the video was shared to Reddit by one VapeThisBro. This Redditor claimed that they recorded this footage on their mobile phone in an unnamed shopping mall. The user went on to say that an undisclosed company was taking surveys at this mall and used random members of the public in order to get feedback on the game.
The part where this gets sketchy is that VapeThisBro alleged that the reason why they managed to get a recording of this was that this company somehow forgot to make them sign an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). To quote the user: “BUT while they had everyone else sign NDAs I guess I left before they remembered I needed to sign one too.”
NDAs are a long-established industry standard for this sort of procedure – not just for video games, but movies, and other products as well – so it goes against common sense that any respectable operation would simply forget to make someone in a focus test group sign a non-disclosure agreement.
A blunder such as this would leave a company totally exposed from a legal side. Warner Bros. was quick to react, and both the video and the Reddit post were soon deleted on the grounds of copyright infringement. But, as everybody knows, once something has found its way online – it’s almost impossible to completely delete it for good. The video has since found its way to multiple YT channels, with Warner Bros. scrambling to take it down each time.
Following the leak, Lizo Mzimba, a BBC journalist, posted on Twitter that the working title for the Harry Potter RPG is “Harry Potter Magic Awakened”, but that other titles – such as “Magic Forever” are also being considered. He also said that other Harry Potter games could also be in development.
To this day, Warner Bros. has neither confirmed nor denied that the game is officially being worked on, or that its development has been canceled. Which is telling in itself – usually corporations will do more damage control once a breach like this has occurred, but Warner Bros. is strangely silent.
Here is the entire Reddit post text, in all its unchanged glory – misspellings and grammar mistakes included:
“About
Set in the 19th Century (1800s) Wizarding World, this third-person open-world action RPG game centers around your character with unique abilities who has eared a late acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are a newly arrived fifth year student to Hogwarts that demonstrates a latent gift for magic with a unique ability to track and identify remnants of a potent ancient power.
Upon arrival, strange events begin to materialize in the Forbidden Forest and trouble begins to brew within the castle walls. Together with Professor Elezar Fig, you embark on a journey through both familiar and never before seen locations to bring to light the truth behind these mysterious occurrences.
On your quest you will craft potions, master new spells, and discover fantastical beasts, you will battle Dark Wizards, Goblins, and other supernatural enemies and uncover the truth about your destiny. The Fate of the Wizarding World lies in your hands.
Key Features
Journey to Hogwarts to become one of 8 different Wizard types.Experience Hogwarts, make new friends, uncover new secrets, and change the fate of the Wizarding World.Experience a new magic system that creates countless possibilities to master magic.Freely explore the Wizarding World for the first time.Choose your house and friends at Hogwarts, and decide to pursue a path of good or evil.Create your own witch or wizard, and experience a all new story separate from the books or films.”
The Harry Potter RPG Gameplay
Let’s go over all of these tidbits in order.
Story and Setting
The fact that this takes place in the 19th century is very exciting – we know very little about this time period in the Harry Potter setting, and it allows the writers to come up with entirely new characters and scenarios that won’t contradict the lore from the books and movies.
While we don’t know when exactly in the 1800s this will take place – Britain was a completely different place and society during the Georgian era as opposed to the Victorian era – the thought of seeing what wizards were like in those days is certainly appealing.
We at GameGavel are big fans of open-world games, so a third-person RPG set in an environment sounds like something right up our alley. A player character with unique abilities is also a welcome addition – many prominent game designers argue that your character should always have something that will make them stand out from other generic NPCs.
19th Century Hogwarts
Having the game set in and around Hogwarts is definitely a wise decision – the books were always at their best when they dealt with Hogwarts-based characters and locations. A late acceptance to the school could mean that the player character is either a transfer from one of the other magic schools from around the world, or that they have just found out that they are a Wizard or Witch. Their “latent gift for magic” seems to suggest the latter option as more likely.
The fifth-year in Hogwarts is an especially important one for students – it is here that they must take their O.W.L. (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) exams, which determine their future career options, and which N.E.W.T. (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test) they can take in their final school year. A hectic and stressful time for any young magic-user, this will almost certainly be an important part of the story.
Chasing After Mythical Magic
Your character’s ability to “track and identify remnants of a potent ancient power” points to the secrets hidden among the school – may be something to do with Hogwart’s four legendary founders (Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin) that lived more than a thousand years ago. Harry Potter is at its core a mystery novel series, so focusing on solving puzzles and uncovering hidden rooms and objects is in line with the original series.
Just like Harry Potter, your character will be thrust into this world and you will be forced to take on dangerous missions and solve mysteries – guided (and maybe assisted?) by Professor Elezar Fig, a new character that could serve as a stand-in for the role Dumbledore played in the books – that of a wise mentor and powerful guardian.
You will get to perform the usual Hogwarts student activities – learn spells, brew potions, befriend fantastic beasts of all shapes and sizes. But, unlike a regular student, you will also need to fight against evil Wizards and creatures such as Goblins, all the while uncovering your role in the destiny of the Wizarding World which you will help shape with your actions.
The “8 different Wizard types” is probably some sort of class system from RPG games that will let you specialize in your spellcaster in various kinds of magic. While Wizards in Harry Potter have been sometimes described as being good in specific types of sorcery, this is the first time that your aptitude will determine which sort of Wizard/Witch you are.
The Hogwarts Experience
This could be tied to one of four Hogwart’s Houses – you will no doubt be able to pick which House you want to be sorted into, and since there are eight Wizard types, maybe this means that there are two per House. It isn’t a particular stretch of the imagination to think that a member of Slytherin House will specialize in direct damage spells, while a Ravenclaw student prefers charms.
Besides freely roaming around Hogwarts, you will also have to take classes – you are a student, after all – and make friends with your classmates.
The magic system is being touted as a feature that will allow you to mix and match your own spells in a myriad of ways.
From a role-playing perspective, it’s great that the game will allow you to choose which path you want to follow – being good or succumbing to evil. In almost all of Harry Potter-related media, the protagonists are always firmly good guys, so it will be a welcome change to have the option to play as a Dark Wizard/Witch for a change.
Of course, creating and customizing your own character – choosing their gender, appearance, House, is pretty much a given in a modern game.
The Harry Potter RPG Leaked Trailer
Right from the beginning of the leaked teaser, we get a nice dose of classic Harry Potter nostalgia – with the Great Hall of Hogwarts, students sitting in rows with levitating candles hanging above. Next, we get a glimpse of the inside of the school, followed by customization options for our player character. There seem to be quite a few options to choose from when it comes to their look – skin tone, eye color, clothing, wand, headwear, etc. – all you need to make a unique avatar.
The usual assortment of traditional spells makes their return – Lumos, Wingardium Leviosa, Incendio, Expulso, Depulso, Stupefy, Alohomora, Reparo, etc. The character is shown taking classes, strolling around Hogwarts (including the botanical garden) and (what looks to be) Hogsmeade, venturing into the Forbidden Forest, and opening an interactive map to travel to another location.
Inside a dark cave (or maybe a tomb or dungeon) the character starts battling a group of goblins and a troll – this fight looks to be a boss battle. The combat looks dynamic and thrilling, with a lot of action, spell-flinging, and environmental interactions – like knocking out the pillars to cause a cave-in.
Wizard duels also appear to be in, our character is seen dueling (or perhaps training) against another person. You can dodge spells, cast your own, or repel them – similar to blocking with a weapon or shield in most fantasy action games.
All in all, the footage, even in its out of focus low-quality, looks very polished and will probably demand a powerful gaming PC to run.
Final Words
While most of this is just speculation, the fact remains that footage of this game does exist. It’s too detailed and high-quality to write off as a simple joke or trolling. The question remains – what is the fate of the Harry Potter RPG?
Even though nothing about the game has been heard since October 2018, this could simply mean that production is being kept hush-hush after the leak – perhaps going through revisions in order to take advantage of the PlayStation 5’s impressive new hardware capabilities.
Whatever the case, we hope that this title will still be released sometime – preferably soon – Harry Potter fans deserve a great game such as this.