Almost a year ago now, footage was leaked online for a Harry Potter RPG supposedly in development at WB Games, which led to widespread excitement among fans and throughout the industry. Warner Bros. immediately removed all traces of the footage online due to copyright which naturally led to even more speculation about the mysterious game, however, to this day there has been no additional information or announcement ever made.

Harry Potter is a beloved franchise and the idea of a proper open-world RPG set in Hogwarts is exactly what fans have been wanting for years. Right now, there's no way of knowing whether the Harry Potter RPG is real or not, whether the project was in development before being scrapped entirely, or whether an official announcement could still be on the horizon. With all that said, the original leak did give quite a lot of information about the game, so let's take a look at everything we know so far.

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Harry Potter RPG

The Title

The original footage for the Harry Potter RPG was posted to YouTube on October 1st, 2018, by user RastaPasta (an account made in order to upload the video) and later shared to Reddit by VapeThisBro who claimed to have recorded the gameplay on his phone at a Mall. VapeThisBro claimed that an unnamed company had been conducting surveys at the Mall for an unannounced game and appeared to being used the general public as testers. Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment was quick to remove and block all uploaded footage based on copyright, however, no official statement was ever made.

The footage appeared to show RPG elements, unspecified fantastic beasts from the franchise, familiar environments like the Great Hall in Hogwarts, and a variety of known spells such as "Lumos," "Stupefy," and "Reparo." Following the leak, BBC Journalist Lizo Mzimba posted to Twitter that he'd be told from sources the game was, in fact, real and that it was currently using the title "Harry Potter: Magic Awakened," with other titles such as "Harry Potter: Magic Forever" still being thrown around.

The Setting

Alongside the leaked footage, Reddit user VapeThisBro also released a description of the Harry Potter RPG which offered some insight into the game's setting, story, and key locations that could be expected.

Set in the 19th Century (1800’s) Wizarding World, this 3rd person open-world action RPG game centers around your character with unique abilities who has eared (sic) a late acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are a newly arrived 5th year student to Hogwarts that demonstrates a latent gift for magic with a unique ability to track and identify remnants of a pottant (sic) ancient power.

Upon arrival, strange events begin to materialize In the Forbidden Forest and trouble begins o (sic) 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 fantastic 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.

Harry Potter RPG

In brief, it appears that players would take control of a user-created character that's come to Hogwarts in their fifth year. The game would be a third-person open-world RPG set in the famous wizarding school sometime during the 19th Century and would feature key locations including the Forbidden Forest. Players would have a variety of things to do throughout their school year such as crafting potions, learning new spells, discovering fantastic beasts, and fighting Dark Wizards alongside a new character named Professor Elezar Fig.

Taking place during the 19th Century leaves a lot of room open for Warner Bros. and the unknown developers to work with. By this point in the Wizarding World, much of the world as its seen in Harry Potter has already been established. Hogwarts was founded near-900 years prior, the Ministry of Magic has been around for over 100 years and the wizarding world had been hiding for just as long, and it’s decades before the arrival of Dark Wizards like Grindelwald or Voldemort. And while the Tri-Wizard Cup and Albus Dumbledore might not be around, Quidditch, Azkaban, and many of Hogwarts secrets like the Chamber of Secrets or the Room of Requirement most definitely are.

The Gameplay

Included in the Harry Potter RPG story synopsis, was a list of gameplay features detailing everything from character creation to RPG classes and an honor system that would allow players to choose between before a good wizard or an evil one.

  • 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 (sic) all new story separate from the books or films.

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Harry Potter RPG

At this stage, based on how little we know so far it’s highly plausible that the leak was fabricated. Reddit user VapeThisBro claimed to have recorded the footage at a Mall where an unnamed company was doing surveys for an unannounced game. He also stated that they “forgot” to have him sign an NDA stating, "BUT while they had everyone else sign NDAs I guess I left before they remembered I needed to sign one too," which seems incredibly sloppy and highly unlikely based on the property alone.

The Harry Potter RPG was one of our most anticipated games missing from E3 2019, so let's hope that an official announcement is still coming sometime soon. After all, Warner Bros. has managed to find great success with recent mobile games based on the IP including Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, and Wizards Unite, an augmented reality game similar to Pokemon GO.

Harry Potter RPG is rumored to be in development at WB Games for unknown platforms.

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