There's been no shortage of attempts at Harry Potter video games. Every installation in the seven-book series has had at least one video game adaptation. The series has even spanned into all kinds of subgenres, like LEGO games and AR mobile games in the vein of Pokemon GO. However, these games have yet to perfectly deliver on a fantasy most Harry Potter fans have in common: they all want to explore Hogwarts on their own terms, without the limitations that come with Harry's notoriety. Hogwarts Legacy is a big deal for that reason -- it seems poised to give fans an unprecedented amount of freedom within the Wizarding World.
Hogwarts Legacy is uniquely poised in a lot of ways. For one, players will customize their own students to enroll at Hogwarts, and from the sounds of things, players have a lot of freedom in that department. For another, Hogwarts Legacy is set many decades before Harry Potter's time. The late 1800s are an era in the Wizarding World's timeline that hasn't been explored much yet, and Hogwarts Legacy being an action RPG means fans will probably have a lot of agency in exploring it. However, there's another type of game that would give Harry Potter fans even more of the freedom that they crave: an MMO. Hogwarts Legacy is no multiplayer game, but it sets some parts in place that should make fans wonder if an MMO is on the cards.
Building Towards an MMO
The RPG format is a really good way to approach video games about Harry Potter. So much of the franchise revolves around the characters learning to master their inherent magic abilities by studying new spells and other facets of the Wizarding World. It adapts well to RPG traditions like progressing through skill trees and training in new abilities. Hogwarts Legacy is sure to do things like this, which sets a modern precedent for how to develop a Harry Potter RPG, especially a Harry Potter RPG without Harry Potter. That's exactly what a Harry Potter MMO would look like, so Hogwarts Legacy is good practice for the genre, especially if Avalanche Software retains access to the IP.
It's even feasible that Avalanche Software could add an MMO-style multiplayer mode to the game later in the game's life. Something in the vein of Grand Theft Auto Online but set in the Wizarding World would completely change expectations for the game, which are already high. It's understandable if Avalanche doesn't want to aim for an expansion like this. If Hogwarts Legacy is meant to be a single-player experience and nothing more, then resources should be focused on that angle. After all, a standalone MMO in the Wizarding World arguably has more potential than a GTA Online-esque addition.
The Definitive Wizarding MMORPG
The mind boggles with possible inclusions in a Harry Potter MMO. A game like this might be the one to break with the franchise's traditional focus on teenagers and school life. An MMO could let players design adult wizards with the freedom to explore the United Kingdom or even the whole of the Wizarding World, rather than limiting player characters to the grounds of Hogwarts. Players could take up various occupations and become Aurors, wandmakers, potion masters, and so on, filling out the setting by becoming a part of it. If such an MMO were set in or around the time of the Harry Potter books, then fans could also interact with and help out Harry Potter characters that Hogwarts Legacy loses out on due to its place in the timeline.
As exciting as a Harry Potter MMORPG would be, though, Hogwarts Legacy has to be a hit first. The game is at least a year away now, since it's been delayed to 2022, so the verdict on whether fans like this new angle on the setting will be out for a while. Admittedly, Avalanche has another hill to climb first. Hogwarts Legacy has to overcome a reputation for controversy on top of impressing fans and critics as a game. If Avalanche can impress and draw in a lot of players, then it can start thinking about marketing an MMO toward these fans. A Harry Potter MMORPG would be a dream come true for a lot of longtime fans of the series, but first things first -- Hogwarts Legacy still has a long road ahead.
Hogwarts Legacy releases in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.