After the massive success of Hogwarts Legacy in 2023, it seemed like only a matter of time before a sequel would be announced. In addition to a follow-up game, the success of the magical RPG has initiated a whole slew of Harry Potter media for Wizarding World fans to look forward to. Warner Bros, the owners of many rights related to the massive Potter franchise, will try to tie new products together through storytelling, but that might not be a good thing for the franchise.

Hogwarts Legacy takes place in a wizarding world a long, long time ago, which is a fantastic way for the franchise to create new stories that aren’t forced to connect with the Chosen One narrative from the main Harry Potter books. If Warner Bros is looking to tie more games into the main story, it may be a bad sign for the story of Hogwarts Legacy’s sequel.

Hogwarts Legacy's Sequel Will Coordinate Stories From The Show

A Shared Universe Of Magic

According to a report by Variety, the Harry Potter franchise is looking to start its engines again after the disappointing performance of the last couple of Wizarding World films. The spark for this new activity was Hogwarts Legacy, as the success of the game encouraged Warner Bros to create, and connect, even more wizarding content in the lead-up to the Harry Potter show on HBO. It's a similar shift in approach to other major franchise universes like Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The newest Potter products - like video games, TV shows, and movies - will interconnect through their stories. David Haddad, the president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, stated that “the games team 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 series.” What exactly those big picture elements are is unclear, especially since the story in Hogwarts Legacy takes place over a century before any of the events of the original books, predating almost every living character except Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel.

Hogwarts Legacy 2 Would've Already Followed Established Canon

All Harry Potter Media Will Connect In Some Way

Any sequel to Hogwarts Legacy would likely follow the events of the first game, which has always adhered to established canon for the Harry Potter universe. Since all products in the series have all, more or less, followed the rules set forth by earlier works, it’s unlikely that any sequel game would’ve broken the pattern.

The Fantastic Beasts films make some tweaks to established lore, but they steer clear of major overhauls.

The only product set in the Potter universe that has heavily broken canon, the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, has largely been rejected by fans, so it’s possible the Warner Bros is working to avoid that reaction again in any future creation. Even so, considering the first game's positive reception, it seems like an unnecessary move with unclear results.

How Hogwarts Legacy 2 Could Make This Work

Connections Through World Building May Be The Answer

Since the HBO show will simply be a retelling of the original Harry Potter books published in the 90s, it’s confusing how exactly the two products will connect in their stories besides taking place in the same universe. The worst-case scenario is that the game's sequel abandons the more historical setting and brings the story closer in the timeline to the 1990s, but based on the success of the first game’s setting, this seems unlikely.

The most likely scenario for the HBO show is that it references the events of the games in a ing way, like mentioning a goblin uprising in the 1890s or bringing up ancient magic. No substantial plotlines can connect to the games, since the seven-book-long saga is well established and beloved by fans.

It seems more likely that the sequel to Hogwarts Legacy will conform in some way to reference something in Harry Potter rather than the other way around. An original story would have much more freedom to innovate, and the first game has already referenced the original story in multiple clever ways. One possibility, if the sequel takes place a decade or so after the first game, would be to include Dumbledore in the story while he attends Hogwarts.

Exploring the origins of iconic spells in Harry Potter could be another interesting path for the sequel. One idea could be a wizard discovering and using the dark magic of Horcruxes, the soul-splitting spell used by Tom Riddle/Voldemort which was massively taboo in the wizarding world by the time Riddle attended Hogwarts. Alternatively, the game could explore the origins of the Patronus charm, which is used throughout the Harry Potter series in multiple iconic scenes. Any idea that connects these stories through world-building rather than characters would be ideal, considering the large time gap between Hogwarts Legacy and Harry Potter.

Source: Variety

Editor’s Note: Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has been accused of transphobia by those in the LGBTQ+ community. Although not directly involved in the development of Hogwarts Legacy, Rowling does stand to earn royalties from the game. We would like to reiterate our for trans rights and that trans identities are valid. services are listed below for trans people impacted by discussions of transphobia.

In the USA:

• Trans Lifeline: (877) 565-8860
• The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386

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• Trans Lifeline: (877) 330-6366
• Youth Line: 1-800-268-9688

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• Switchboard: 01273 204050
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