Home Gaming

Big Budget Harry Potter Game May Be Announced Very Soon

Excluding a short stint of video game tie-ins to capitalize on the film series' success, the only major releases in recent years have been on mobile. The most recent of these, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is an augmented reality affair much in the same vein as developer Niantic's smash hit Pokémon Go that lets players pick their own wizarding house and battle fantastic beasts (pun intended) in the open world. It's a neat, if slightly derivative, gameplay experience that Harry Potter fans can enjoy while on the go, but what of the as-yet untapped tripe-A games market?

Harry Potter

As one of the most successful franchises of all time, it’s somewhat surprising that Harry Potter‘s foray into video games is an avenue that Warner Bros. has rarely explored.

Recommended Videos

Excluding a short stint of video game tie-ins to capitalize on the film series’ success, the only major releases in recent years have been on mobile. The most recent of these, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, is an augmented reality affair much in the same vein as developer Niantic’s smash hit Pokémon Go that lets players pick their own wizarding house and battle fantastic beasts (pun intended) in the open world. It’s a neat, if slightly derivative, gameplay experience that Harry Potter fans can enjoy while on the go, but what of the as-yet untapped tripe-A games market?

Warner Bros. is certainly no stranger to such projects, having poured money into the likes of Rocksteady’s Arkham series as well The Lord of the Rings spinoffs Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and War, so what gives? J. K. Rowling’s whimsical world of wands, spells and mythical monsters lends itself incredibly well to a big-budget, open-world action-adventure and finally, it appears as if the company has recognized that untapped potential.

harry potter

As per a recent job listing spotted (H/T, Comic Book) over on Warner Bros. subsidiary Avalanche Software’s recruitment site, the studio is currently hiring for a “soon to be announced” triple-A title. There is, of course, absolutely no mention of the project having any relation whatsoever to the Hogwarts alumnus himself, though given what we already know, there’s a very real chance of the two being one and the same.

Back in 2018, BBC reporter and Potter superfan Lizo Mzimba revealed that an RPG based on the franchise was already in the works under possible working titles of Magic Awakened or Magic Forever.

Two years is more than enough time for a developer to move from concept and design to full production and with Avalanche stating that a reveal is coming soon, all the jigsaw pieces certainly fit quite snuggly indeed. Nothing is official as yet, obviously, but Harry Potter fans certainly have reason to be cautiously optimistic. Watch this space.