The gargantuan success of Hogwarts Legacy has sparked a major Harry Potter push at Warner Bros., and the game’s sequel will now share some story elements with the upcoming TV show.
Hogwarts Legacy, developed by Avalanche Software and released in February 2023, is now up to an astonishing 30 million units sold, Warner Bros. confirmed to Variety.
Warner Bros. has called Hogwarts Legacy 2 one of its “biggest priorities” as it looks to bring the unannounced follow-up to fans in the next couple of years.
David Haddad, president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, told Variety that Avalanche has been coordinating some of the big-picture storytelling elements in the Hogwarts Legacy sequel with the storylines that will play out in the Harry Potter HBO TV show.
In September, HBO issued a casting call as part of its hunt for the next Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. The casting call also dropped a hint about when filming will begin, saying the network would only "consider children who are aged 9-11 in April 2025" and listing the filming dates as 2025-2026 in the UK. That would track with Warner Bros. Discovery's previous announcement that the show would debut sometime in 2026. Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, has said he likely won't appear in the show.
The upcoming Harry Potter TV series was officially announced last April and is said to be a "faithful adaptation" of the novels by J.K. Rowling, who will serve as an executive producer. HBO has recruited Succession producers Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod as creative heads for the show, with Gardiner serving as showrunner and executive producer while Mylod will executive produce and direct multiple episodes.
Warner Bros. had struggled to find success with the post-Harry Potter Fantastic Beasts film series. Variety noted that “Rowling herself has become an obstacle to the future of the franchise because of the author’s anti-trans public statements,” and Jude Law has said Fantastic Beasts is likely dead.
But, according to Haddad, Hogwarts Legacy’s blockbuster success gave Warner Bros. the confidence to make a major Harry Potter push. “The rest of the company was very curious about what we helped to unlock with Hogwarts Legacy last year,” he said.
While Warner Bros. enjoyed a mega hit with Hogwarts Legacy, its gaming business has endured a tougher time this year following the disastrous launch of Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Soon after the game's February 2024 release, Warner Bros. admitted the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League contributed to a $200 million hit to revenue.
According to Bloomberg, staff at Rocksteady are currently working on a director’s cut of Hogwarts Legacy while leadership pitches a return to single-player following this live-service misstep. Rocksteady reportedly recently suffered layoffs.
Warner Bros.’ games business, which also includes Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm, has also published spin-off Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, operates Smash Bros.-style brawler MultiVersus, released the VR-exclusive Arkhamverse game Batman: Arkham Shadow, and has a Wonder Woman game in development at Shadow of Mordor developer Monolith Productions.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
via Hogwarts Legacy 2 Coordinating ‘Big-Picture Storytelling’ With Harry Potter TV Show Storylines
by Wesley Yin-Poole
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