Hogwarts Legacy’s biggest omission, Quidditch, gets a new stand-alone game
The devoted sport of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is getting its own (official) video game. WB Games and developer Unbroken Studios announced this on Monday Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions; it’s a fast-paced, competitive multiplayer game built on the favorite pastime of Hogwarts wizards and witches, coming to consoles and PC.
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions will close a gap in the most recent game based on the franchise, Hogwarts legacy, which notably did not include a playable version of Quidditch. And that’s all Quidditch champions seems to be based on the frequently asked questions about the game, describing it as “a complete, self-contained Quidditch experience” that “engages players with friends in the sport of Quidditch and other broomstick adventures in a competitive multiplayer environment.” Like it Hogwarts legacythe characters of Quidditch champions is created by the player.
So says WB Games Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions has been in development “for several years” by Los Angeles-based Unbroken Studios, which previously released the Mad Max-y battle royale game Broken Countries and assists Rocksteady Studios in the development of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Players can sign up to test the game at the officer Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions website. A release date for the game has not been announced.
Like it Hogwarts legacynotes WB Games in a FAQ that its new Quidditch game “stays true to [Harry Potter author] JK Rowling’s original vision,” but that the studio’s projects “are not written by JK Rowling and will not be direct adaptations of the books and movies.”
Some longtime Harry Potter fans have vowed to buy and play Hogwarts legacy based on other writings by Rowling – viz a confrontational essay from 2020 published on her personal website outlining her views on gender identity and her skepticism about transgender inclusive laws and policies, and echoed those views on her personal Twitter. Fans playing a real-life version of Quidditch have since chosen to distance themselves from Rowling and rebrand her work and their interpretation of the sport as Quadball.
Hogwarts legacy managed to sell above expectations, with more than 12 million copies sold in its first two weeks. Warner Bros. also shows no signs of slowing down in the exploitation of the Harry Potter IP, with a new live-action adaptation of the seven-book series coming to HBO. Rowling shall be directly involved in that project as an executive producer.
While other Harry Potter video game adaptations feature Quidditch as a playable element, including Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4the only other official game dedicated to the sport was that of 2003 Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup, published for Game Boy Advance, GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. An unofficial Quidditch-inspired game called Broomstick League was in development, but that title was pulled from Steam in 2020.