[UPDATE: Warner Bros Games has officially announced Hogwarts Legacy at the PS5 event in September. The first trailer is below and the original story follows.]
It's been an interesting year for the Harry Potter RPG so far. Prior to COVID-19, Warner Bros. Games was planning to hold its own E3 press conference where it would announce the long-rumored Harry Potter RPG, as well as WB Games Montreal's Batman game, and the next project from Rocksteady Studios. Now, halfway through Summer Games Fest, WB Games has remained quiet with no announcement for any upcoming event outside the reveal of DC FanDome in August. One recent report from Bloomberg stated that the Harry Potter RPG is still in development and offered insight into the games developer, platforms, and release window, but it also supports the claim that a recent detail-heavy rumor about the game might be false.
The latest rumor was posted to Reddit last month by someone claiming to be an employee of Warner Bros. marketing department and went into great detail about the Harry Potter RPG's official title, an all-new setting, gameplay features such as Quidditch and a reimagined Nemesis system, and character customization. The new details have many fans excited about the upcoming next-gen game but it contradicts both the original leak and the latest report from Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, a notable industry insider with a great reputation for these kind of reports. We're going to break down the original leak, the latest round of rumors, and the Bloomberg report to see what information we actually know about the Harry Potter RPG.
What We Know About the Harry Potter RPG
Originally leaked in October 2018, the Harry Potter RPG is rumored to be an open-world RPG set throughout Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, as well as its surrounding areas including the Forbidden Forest and Hogsmeade. Being an RPG, players may be able to create their own witch or wizard and customize the characters design, choose from eight unique wizard class types, be sorted into one of the four iconic Hogwarts houses, and make honor-based decisions that affect whether the player will be good or evil. The original rumor claims Warner Bros. will offer players the chance to "experience Hogwarts, make new friends, uncover new secrets, and change the fate of the Wizarding world."
The Harry Potter RPG will feature an all-new original story in the Wizarding World that takes place a century before the events of the Harry Potter novels/films. Set sometime during the 1800s, the Harry Potter RPG centers around a new student enrollment to Hogwarts in their fifth year after demonstrating unique abilities. When Strange events start to take place in the Forbidden Forest, the player must work together with Professor Elezar Fig to uncover the truth. According to the leak: "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."
The Latest Harry Potter RPG Rumor - Hogwarts: A Dark Legacy
Very little information has found its way online about the rumored Harry Potter RPG since the original leak, at least that was the case until last month when a brand new leak made the rounds with some fairly contradictory statements. According to the latest rumor, the game will be called Hogwarts: A Dark Legacy and WB Games is planning to officially reveal it to the world sometime before the end of August, with a Summer 2021 release window (specifically "around June of 2021").
Still described as an open-world RPG, players will create their own unique witch or wizard that transfers to Hogwarts during their fifth year and will be able to choose the character's aesthetic look, Hogwarts house, and origin i.e. muggle-born, half-blood or pure blood. The game, as described by this leaker, will be set after the events of the Harry Potter series once all of his children have already graduated, and features multiple antagonists that are former Death Eaters. There will be a robust skill tree, an honor system, familiar faces from the Harry Potter series, quidditch mates, romance options, a potential 'T' or 'M' rating, and locations including Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmeade, and the Ministry of Magic. Most notably, the Harry Potter RPG is said to use a reimagined Nemesis system from Shadow of War that will create new rivals for the player at Hogwarts but unfortunately won't be as in-depth as the Middle Earth series.
Harry Potter RPG in Development at Avalanche
Following the latest rumor, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reported new details about the Harry Potter RPG confirming the game's existence, release window, and the developer behind the project. According to Schreier's report, the rumored Harry Potter RPG is a big-budget AAA game, features an "open-world re-creation of Hogwarts," and will be released on PS5 and Xbox Series X in Late 2021 (no mention of the PS4 or Xbox One). Previously planned for an E3 2020 reveal, the game is being developed by Avalanche Software, the team behind Disney Infinity 3.0 and Cars 3: Driven to Win, and will now be unveiled sometime after Warner Bros. DC FanDome event in August where the company plans to announce WB Montreal's new Batman game.
According to that same report, the original footage that leaked in late 2018 was, in fact, real footage from the Harry Potter RPG, yet "most of the rumors that have come out since are not." If that statement is true, which it likely is considering Schreier's reliable reputation in the industry, the Hogwarts: A Dark Legacy Reddit post is false. Most of the core details were the same as the original with the latest rumor further elaborating on player customization, the game's antagonist, and the nemesis system, but it means the post-Harry Potter setting would be fabricated.
Harry Potter RPG is rumored to be in development at Avalanche Software for next-gen platforms.