The Harry Potter franchise may have just marked its 20th anniversary in June, but it’s still worthwhile for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to keep this IP working. The company is leveraging the brand to reach a more casual gaming audience by partnering with Jam City to create Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery—a game based on J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World franchise.
Launching in 2018, Hogwarts Mystery will cast players in the role of a student at the famous school for witchcraft and wizardry. Although most details are still under wraps, fans of Jam City, famous for games like Cookie Jam, Family Guy: Another Freakin’ Mobile Game, Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow and Snoopy Pop, can expect to attend magic classes, where they’ll learn to duel, mix potions and perform other spells.
Jam City is working with Warner Bros. and the Harry Potter franchise on different programs to promote the forthcoming game. Over 50,000 people are expected to attend the official “A Celebration of Harry Potter” fan event on January 26-28 at the Universal Orlando Resort, and the game is a sure lock to be seen there.
Josh Yguado, co-founder and president of Jam City, explained that in order to engage with a global fan base as immense as the Harry Potter audience, you need “a passionate team that takes the lore and brand very seriously.”
“Warner Bros. has some incredible studios focused on mid-core and core mobile game mechanics,” Yguado told AListDaily. “You need a true love for a brand like [Harry Potter] to be successful. After that, it’s just communicating with that same perspective and having respect for the fans.”
The game is launching under Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment’s Portkey Games label, which is dedicated to creating game experiences inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. Though it’s been years since the original Harry Potter books and movies concluded, the franchise continues to engage fans with other properties—such as spin-off film sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, scheduled to release next November.
Yguado said that part of the brand’s strength comes from how an entire generation was raised on the Harry Potter saga, learning both language and moral concepts from it.
“The books are magical and powerful in how thoughtful they are about life and I think that resonated as strongly with adults as well,” said Yguado. “The internet also was really born while the books were proliferating, so you have this convergence of a generation learning and expressing themselves through this mythology on a new medium and connecting around it.”
This follows Pokémon GO-maker Niantic’s announcement last November that it was creating a Harry Potter-themed augmented reality game.
