Warner Bros. Games has announced a new Harry Potter Quidditch title for PC. The title, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, will let players create and customize their own Quidditch players.
According to the FAQ, the game has been in development for several years by Unbroken Studios. Unbroken Studios designed this as a completely standalone experience, and players can play in a competitive, multiplayer setting.
The FAQ also states that this will be an online-only game, and it’s not confirmed which consoles it’ll be on.
The studio is launching a playtest for the game from April 21st to 22nd, and you can register here to take part.
Hogwarts Legacy was a pretty fun game, but many were shocked that Quidditch wasn’t included. It makes sense that Hogwarts Legacy didn’t offer Quidditch if Warner Bros. had a standalone game in mind.
The company says this will be a seven-season series, with each season focused on one of author J.K. Rowling’s seven novels. As a result, a new, younger cast will be featured, rather than the now-adult actors who starred in the Daniel Radcliffe-led films. Altogether, Warner Bros. says this will be a “decade-long series.”
News of the series surfaced earlier this month but is only now being confirmed by Warner Bros. Discovery. As that original report stated, Rowling will remain involved as an executive producer, giving her some degree of creative control, although an actual showrunner and writer have yet to be hired. Additionally, Warner Bros. is in talks with David Heyman, the producer of the eight Harry Potter films, to serve as executive producer on the series.
An estimated release window for the first season of the series was not provided. Given that the series is being produced for Max — a newly rebranded combination of HBO Max and Discovery+ — in the U.S., it’s likely that it will stream on Crave in Canada.
For years, there have been many rumblings about how Warner Bros. would continue with the mainline Harry Potter series after 2011’s The Deathly Hallows — Part 2. While there’s been speculation that the company might want to adapt the sequel The Cursed Child play with the likes of Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, nothing official was ever confirmed.
Instead, the company has released three spin-off prequel films in the Fantastic Beasts series — all of which have been written or co-written by Rowling — between 2016 and 2022. However, reception to the Fantastic Beasts series has been middling, with last year’s Secrets of Dumbledore even garnering negative reviews and becoming the lowest-grossing movie in the entire ‘Wizarding World’ franchise.
Given that this will be the first attempt to adapt Harry Potter’s story without Radcliffe and co. playing the beloved characters, it remains to be seen how audiences will receive the series. Additionally, Warner Bros. Discovery has to navigate the ongoing controversies surrounding Rowling herself.
Warner Bros. is nearing a deal to produce a live-action streaming series for HBO Max based on the Harry Potter book series, according to Bloomberg.
The outlet says the plan is to have seven seasons, each focused on one of the novels. While the Harry Potter films were overall critical and commercial successes, they naturally had to cut a fair amount of material to fit into roughly two-hour runtimes. Therefore, Warner Bros. is intending to use the TV format for a more in-depth exploration of the storylines of the books on HBO Max. (In Canada, most HBO Max originals stream on Crave, so presumably, this series would as well.)
Currently, Warner Bros. is said to still be in negotiations with Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. While she’s not expected to be a showrunner, Rowling would still be attached as a producer to ensure the adaptation is faithful to her novels. Part of Rowling’s larger deal with the entertainment giant requires her to sign off on any Wizarding World-related projects.
The last mainline Harry Potter film was 2011’s Deathly Hallows — Part 2, although three spin-off prequel films in the Fantastic Beasts series — all of which have been written or co-written by Rowling — have been released in the years since. That said, reception to the Fantastic Beasts series has been middling, with last year’s Secrets of Dumbledore even garnering negative reviews while becoming the lowest-grossing movie in the entire ‘Wizarding World’ franchise. Therefore, it makes sense that Warner Bros. would return to the main Harry Potter series, especially in a nostalgia-fueled industry.
However, news of a potential Potter reboot has been met with a mixed response, with some pointing out that we’re barely 10 years removed from the Daniel Radcliffe-led movies. Beyond that, though, the Wizarding World is now viewed as tainted by many amid ongoing controversies surrounding Rowling herself.
Since 2019, the author has been making repeated comments about transgender people that have been condemned for helping to spread hatred and abuse toward an already marginalized community. Members of the LGBTQ+ community have criticized Rowling for her anti-trans rhetoric, as haveHarry Potter cast members like Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who distanced themselves from the author while expressing support for trans people. Most recently, Rowling led many to call for a boycott of Warner Bros. best-selling Hogwarts Legacy, a video game based on the Wizarding World, due to the fact that she would ultimately profit from its success.
Should the HBO Max series go through, it remains to be seen who else will be involved and, more importantly, how Rowling herself might affect the project.
Hogwarts Legacy studio Avalanche Software has outlined how the use of the PlayStation 5’s DualSense can put you in the wizarding world. Ahead of its Holiday 2022 launch, the WB Games-owned studio has released new details on the game’s immersion.
Hogwarts Legacy brings players into the halls of the franchise’s most iconic location, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In this prequel tale, players attend classes and become true wizards or witches. Of course, this means having a wand by your side and casting a plethora of spells. Avalanche Software describes how the DualSense can make every spell feel unique to the player.
In a PlayStation blog post, community manager Chandler Wood confirms that Hogwarts Legacy utilizes the DualSense’s adaptive triggers. Much like we’ve seen in previous PlayStation 5 games, players will feel the resistance in the trigger when casting a spell. “You’ll feel the magical resistance at your fingertips through every spell, whether firing off a basic cast or summoning the strength,” the post reads. We’ve seen similar innovations in games when players fire a weapon or pull the drawstring of a bow and arrow.
Likewise, Hogwarts Legacy also features haptic feedback of the DualSense. Wood confirms that when casting the Protego spell, the sizzling of the magic is felt across the DualSense. The same goes when magic is reflected and absorbed by the Shield Charm in the game.
Hogwarts Legacy not only reserves the DualSense’s feedback for combat. The game uses the DualSense during a variety of events in the world. One of which is during Potions class. As students go through an academic year in Hogwarts, players attend classes. During Potions class, the DualSense reacts when combing ingredients with a mortar and pestle. Players also feel the feedback when flying on a broom or on the magical hippogriff.
Additionally, the DualSense offers some personalization through your time at Hogwarts. The controller emits the house colours via the light. Griffindor’s scarlet and gold colours shine, while Slytherin reserves green and silver. Hufflepuff students see yellow and black, while blue and bronze is for the Ravenclaw house.
Aside from DualSense features, Wood outlines some of what the PlayStation 5 hardware offers when playing Hogwarts Legacy. The game provides players with the choice of Fidelity and Performance graphics modes. The game also supports Tempest 3D AudioTech for immersion from an audio perspective. Plus, the SSD provides fast loading speeds when fast travelling via the Floo Network.
As a fan of the Harry Potter franchise, Hogwarts Legacy is a game that is shaping up to be something special. However, the game comes with a lot of baggage due to Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. In recent years, the author has made numerous remarks regarding the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, Rowling has shown a pattern of publically making transphobic remarks. These problematic views continually need addressing when discussing the game. It’s become a complex topic, and thankfully, many members of the community have provided insightful stances on the matter.
This is pretty notable since it’s the same date the film hits the U.S.-only HBO Max service. We saw this for the first time with The Batman, which hit Crave on April 18th.
Additionally, this is only six weeks after the film hit theatres on April 15th.
To watch the film, a Crave subscription starts at $9.99 per month for a Mobile plan that includes HBO access content like Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. If you don’t plan on only using Crave on your phone, a Crave Total subscription is required for streaming on Crave-supported devices.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is the third instalment in the Fantastic Beasts series and is directed by David Yates. It stars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Dan Fogler, Jessica Williams, and more.
It’s worth noting that Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is based on a screenplay co-written by J.K Rowling, who is quite problematic for her anti-transgender stances. As much as I love the Wizarding World, it’s good to keep updated on the issues the writer presents and how hurtful Rowling’s transphobic remarks can be to the community.
If you want to learn more about this controversy, head to this article that leads to readings offering more information on Rowling’s remarks from the LGBTQ+ community.
On March 17th, Warner Bros. gave us our first extensive look at gameplay from Hogwarts Legacy, and it’s honestly looking like the Harry Potter game I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid.
Until now, pretty much every “Wizarding World” game has been a retelling of the same stories featured in the seven Potter books/eight Potter films. While there’s a certain novelty to that, especially for kids, what was always most tantalizing was a game that let you live out your own Hogwarts adventure, not a version of Harry’s.
With that in mind, Hogwarts Legacy ticks pretty much every box I could have hoped for. The ability to create your own witch or wizard and get sorted into one of Hogwarts’ four houses? An original story set many years before Harry was even born? An expansive open-world to explore with a broom or Hippogriff? A slew of flashy spells for dynamic combat? It really seems like developer Avalanche Software has understood the assignment.
If only it were that simple.
At this point, you’ve probably heard about the controversy surrounding the game. It’s one that, rather unfortunately, actually has nothing to do with Avalanche itself. Instead, it pertains to Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling, who’s come under fire in recent years for repeatedly making transphobic remarks. To reiterate: this is recurring behaviour, not a one-off tweet from years ago. Now, I personally know some people, either social media acquaintances or actual friends and family, who don’t see why this is a problem. Many others certainly don’t, either, and this can come down to people being genuinely unaware, deliberately ignorant or just plain bigoted.
As a straight, (half) white cis-gendered male, I originally didn’t understand either; admittedly, I’ve benefited from living in my own relatively hate-free bubble. But what I’ve done over the past year, and what I’d encourage others to do, is simply listen to what Rowling’s critics are saying.
With that in mind, I’d like to share just a few resources to better explain how Rowling is actively harming an already extremely marginalized and vulnerable community. These are people who know far more about the subject than me and can maybe help inform just a bit.
Those articles all cover Rowling’s transphobia in general, but there have also been some good pieces to relate it to back to Hogwarts Legacy. For one, trans woman Jessie Earl, a video producer at GameSpot, penned an incredibly detailed and nuanced piece about Rowling and Hogwarts Legacy. The majority of her piece unpacks Rowling’s falsehoods and dangerous rhetoric, before explaining how that all relates to the game.
Then there are organizations you can learn from and support, including:
Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH) — the largest national multidisciplinary, professional organization in the world, which aims to support trans and gender diverse people GLAAD — an organization aiming to support the LGBTQ+ community in general
Trans Lifeline — a grassroots organization offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people (Canadians can dial 1-877-330-6366)
Trans Pulse Canada — a community-based survey of the health and well-being of trans/non-binary people in Canada
A more comprehensive list of Canadian trans-supporting charitable groups can be found here.
Ultimately, you should make your own choice about buying Hogwarts Legacy. As some of the pieces above state, you’re not a bad person for doing that. If you feel complicated about it, that’s certainly reasonable, too. But hopefully, you can at least read a bit more about Rowling’s actions from those being negatively impacted by them and keep that all in mind, regardless of whether you end up playing the game.
Image credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Warner Bros. has confirmed that its highly anticipated Hogwarts Legacy game will launch in holiday 2022.
The release window was given during a new PlayStation State of Play presentation, in which 14 minutes of new gameplay footage were revealed.
Developed by Avalanche Software, Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world, action-RPG that lets players create their own wizard or witch, a fifth-year newcomer to Hogwarts in the 1800s. From there, you’ll get sorted into Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff and attend various classes, including Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions and Herbology.
The larger story focuses on the player character, who holds mysterious magical abilities, as they work with Professor Fig to investigate a mounting goblin rebellion. Since the game is set in the 1800s, characters like Harry Potter won’t appear, although Avalanche promises some “familiar faces,” such as Nearly Headless Nick pre-head injury, will pop up.
Outside of all that, you’ll be able to explore Hogwarts’ grounds, including the castle and courtyards, as well as surrounding areas, like Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest. Brooms and Hippogriffs will be available to traverse the outdoor areas. As you explore, you’ll meet new students who can become Companions, who will teach you new spells and unlock their own story threads in a system that is reminiscent of Persona.
Gameplay-wise, Avalanche is promising “dozens” of spells, including Accio, Incendio, Confringo and Reparo. You can also use magical beasts in combat, such as a Mandrake to scream at enemies and stun them.
Outside of the gameplay footage, members of the Avalanche development team offered some commentary on their approach to the Wizarding World. You can see that towards the end of the State of Play.
Hogwarts Legacy is coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox consoles and PC.
Warner Bros. Interactive and PlayStation are teaming up for a special State of Play presentation dedicated to Hogwarts Legacy.
The Harry Potter game stream will air on March 17th at 2pm PT/5pm ET on PlayStation’s Twitch and YouTube channels. Warner Bros. says the presentation will run for 20 minutes, 14 of which will be actual PS5 gameplay footage.
A few members of the Avalanche Software development team will also provide some insight into the making of the game.
Hogwarts Legacy is an action-RPG set in the Wizarding World in the 1800s, telling an original story many years before Harry Potter was even born. The game will allow players to create their own witch or wizard and explore a vast Hogwarts setting and its surrounding areas.
Originally unveiled during the big September 2020 PS5 showcase for a 2021 release, Hogwarts Legacy was later delayed until 2022 and we’ve had no update ever since. Therefore, this is a long-awaited update on the game, especially considering the reveal trailer has topped 28 million views on PlayStation’s YouTube channel alone.
Hogwarts Legacy is set to release sometime this year on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox consoles and PC.
Warner Bros. has confirmed that Harry Potter: Magic Awakened will come to Android and iOS in North America later this year.
Developed by Chinese tech company NetEase, the free-to-play game was first launched last year in select Asian markets. Magic Awakened is set 10 years after The Deathly Hallows and features appearances from characters like Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Rubeus Hagrid and Professor McGonagall.
In terms of gameplay, Magic Awakened mixes card collecting with an MMORPG framework. Specifically, cards are based on classic Harry Potter spells and can be earned via a “gacha” system. Outside of card-based battles, Magic Awakened will let players create their own Hogwarts student, attend lessons and play Quidditch through a simplified touch-to-dodge system.
Those interested can pre-register on Google Play or the official Magic Awakened website for special in-game rewards. If Magic Awakened doesn’t sound up your alley, Hogwarts Legacy, a AAA action-RPG for consoles and PC, is also set to release later this year.
However, in an amusing turn of events, an image of Emma Roberts was displayed during the special instead of Emma Watson, that actress that actually played Hermoine Granger in the films. The error was quickly edited out of the streaming special but remains an amusing misstep.
In Canada, the reunion special streams on Bell-owned Crave.
“Well spotted Harry Potter fans!” reads a statement from the special’s producers, via The Wrap. “You brought an editing mistake of a mislabeled photograph to our attention. [The] new version is up now.”
The reunion special first started streaming on January 1st. In the clip, Watson talks about how she was a fan of the Harry Potter series before playing Hermoine and how her father would read the series to her. The image used in in this portion of the special, however, was of Roberts back in 2012.
The series’ stars that joined Watson in the special include Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Helena Bonham Carter, Tom Felton and more. Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling is only seen in archival footage in the feel because Warner Bros. is likely attempting to distance itself from Rowling amid the ongoing controversy surrounding her transphobic views.
MobileSyrup has reached out to Crave for more information regarding if the HBO Max special has been updated in Canada. If you haven’t watched the special yet, here’s how to stream it in Canada.
