Hogwarts Legacy more than delivered on immersing players in the Wizarding World, with one glaring exception. Though the grounds of Hogwarts contained a fully modeled Quidditch pitch and the game has working broomsticks, the sport itself was nowhere to be found. Well, perhaps in response to this absence, Warner Bros. Games has just unveiled Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions from developer Unbroken Studios.
This is described as a “fast-paced, online multiplayer game” that’ll let players live out their golden snitch-snatching fantasies against their opponents. President of Warner Bros. games David Haddad said:
Fans have long requested a Quidditch game, and we have been working with Unbroken Studios for several years to create gameplay worthy of their expectations. Now we are reaching out to the fans and inviting players into Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions to help us with this phase of building the experience.”
The only wrinkle is that this will be a firmly standalone experience under the Portkey Games label rather than an addition to Hogwarts Legacy. At the time of release, many assumed the presence of the Quidditch pitch meant that some kind of DLC themed around the sport was in the pipeline, though that’s probably not happening if there’s an entirely separate Quidditch game in development.
It also remains to be seen how the complex rules of Quidditch will translate into a multiplayer game, particularly that the score can be turned on its head if a player manages to nab the incredibly valuable Golden Snitch. It’s also worth mentioning that there has already been a Quidditch-focused game in 2003, Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup. That released on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube and received mixed reviews.
We’ll know for sure if Unbroken Studios has nailed it very soon, as limited online playtesting will take place on April 21 and 22. If the game is ready to be shown off like this, we suspect we’ll see it make a full release later in the year. If you want to try your luck at getting in on the Quidditch Champions playtest, here’s the link.