Ever since the Harry Potter franchise rose to popularity in the late 90s and early 2000s, numerous video games based on the series have been released. While some of these games hold a special place in gamers' hearts, most of them can be written off as cash-grabs, typically positioned to release alongside the latest Harry Potter movie in theaters instead of focused on creating a quality gaming experience.
For years, most Harry Potter video games have been directly tied to the film franchise, with few ever stepping outside of that comfort zone to do something different. Now that the main Harry Potter film series has come to a close, Warner Bros. Interactive has been looking to focus more heavily on its Harry Potter video games, creating the Portkey Games publishing label to oversee the operation.
Portkey Games is not itself a video game developer, but instead a video game publishing label that collaborates with existing developers to create video games set in the Harry Potter universe, aka the Wizarding World franchise. Since its inception in 2017, Portkey Games has overseen the launch of three separate Harry Potter video game experiences, with more in the pipeline. Here are all the Portkey Games video games so far, and how they have been received by the Harry Potter community.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (2018)
The first title released under the Portkey Games publishing label is Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, a mobile game developed by Jam City. Essentially a visual novel with light RPG elements, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery tells an original story a few years prior to the events of the main Harry Potter series. The player character is a new Hogwarts student who has to go to classes, interact with their friends, and attempt to solve the mystery of their missing brother Jacob, who had been attempting to open the Cursed Vaults hidden around the school and its grounds.
While an interesting premise, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery reviews were largely negative at the time of its release, mainly due to its microtransaction model. Players have to spend an absurd amount on microtransactions to make any real progress in the game, as each action is governed by an energy meter that refills painfully slow. Infamously, this led to some players being prompted to purchase energy to stop their character from being strangled to death in one of the game's earliest chapters.
Despite the widespread negative reception, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery has still managed to maintain a dedicated fanbase whose support has helped Jam City expand the game with new features and story content. The game's story has also gotten some praise, with certain characters like Merula Snyde and Rowan Khan becoming favorites in the fandom. The game's story is still going at the time of this writing, and it will definitely be interesting to see how it concludes.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (2019)
The next Harry Potter game released under the Portkey Games label was Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Developed by Pokemon GO developer Niantic, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is an augmented reality mobile game that takes more than a few cues from Pokemon GO. Players explore the Wizarding World by walking in the real world, allowing players to encounter various Harry Potter series objects and fight dangerous magical beasts.
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite was a financial success right off the bat, and like Hogwarts Mystery, has managed to maintain a dedicated fanbase. Harry Potter: Wizards Unite's popularity may pale in comparison to Pokemon GO, but it was much better-received than Portkey Games' first effort, and it's still getting new content to this day.
Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells (2020)
The most recent game released under the Portkey Games label is the match-3 puzzler Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, developed by Zynga, and once again released for mobile devices. It's a match-3 puzzle game with a Harry Potter theme, giving fans of the Wizarding World franchise a ton of puzzles to complete while they're on the go. Like the other games Portkey Games has released so far, there are live service elements to Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, with Zynga releasing new content for the game on a regular basis, including a Christmas event and a crossover with Zayn Malik.
Future Games
So far, Portkey Games has mainly focused on releasing Harry Potter-themed mobile games, but that will change next year. Avalanche Software is actively developing an open world Harry Potter RPG called Hogwarts Legacy, which is shaping up to be the most ambitious Harry Potter video game project to date. Coming to PC and consoles, much of Hogwarts Legacy is still shrouded in mystery, though it's been confirmed that the game will be set in the 1800s and will primarily feature Hogwarts as its setting. Those interested can look forward to Hogwarts Legacy hitting PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X at some point in 2022.
Meanwhile, yet another Harry Potter mobile game is in development in the form of Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. Coming to both Android and iOS, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened is a digital card game in development by NetEase that currently doesn't have a release date. But since Portkey Games has consistently released a new title every year since 2018, maybe Magic Awakened will launch in 2021 to take Hogwarts Legacy's spot, though that's just speculation at this time. So far, the game is only confirmed for China, so Harry Potter fans should keep that in mind as well.