Why Didn't Harry Potter Change the Game?

Fantasy is now much more mainstream, so it's easy to forget how influential the debut of the Harry Potter franchise was on the genre. And yet despite the blockbuster success of the franchise we never got an official Harry Potter tabletop role-playing game -- for Dungeons & Dragons or any other system.

[h=3]Yes, Harry Potter Was a Big Deal[/h]Author J.K. Rowling's tale of a young boy who would fulfill his destiny at a school for wizards sent shockwaves through the book publishing industry when it debuted. Kids started reading again, and adults read along with them. The numbers give a sense of scale to the enormous impact the Harry Potter series had on publishing, movies, and fantasy worlds in general.

To date, the book series has sold over 160 million copies, grossing $7.7 billion. The movies actually performed worse than the books, grossing $7.2 billion so far. It made Rowling a billionaire and the actor who played Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, a millionaire. In addition to the books and movies, the franchise generated $7.3 billion in games and toys. All told, the franchise is estimated to be valued at roughly $25 billion.

D&D and Harry Potter have quite a bit in common. They both systemize magical systems, categorize fantastical creatures, and gradually advance the characters' power throughout the series. And yet there was never a Harry Potter role-playing game. Why not?
[h=3]Harry Sneaks In[/h]There's are certainly benefits to being affiliated with the Harry Potter franchise. Universal Studios' Orlando theme park's attendance surged 30% when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in 2010. A Harry Potter-branded tabletop RPG would like experience a similar sales bump from the name affiliation alone.

There were tabletop gaming attempts to ride the Potter fandom. Redhurst: Academy of Magic, written by Matt Forbeck, applied D20 rules to a Harry Potter-esque school setting, complete with a traitorous spy scribbling in the margins:

REDHURST ACADEMY OF MAGIC is a world of a traveling wizards' school. You are one of its students set to learn about the wonderful world of magic and explore the world under the tutelage of some of the finest arcane minds in the Known Realms. Redhurst is a magical wondrous place where the surreal and mundane share the same table, and the fantastic is in every step of the grounds, every brick of the walls, and every classroom.

There is a widely-spread rumor that J.K. Rowling was not interested in a role-playing game, which is sourced to Ryan Dancey, then VP at Wizards of the Coast:

I’m starting to see a lot of Harry Potter-related merchandise — a lot of it decidedly tacky — but one thing we’ll apparently never see is a Harry Potter role playing game. According to Wizards of the Coast’s Ryan Dancey, series author J.K. Rowling “has flatly stated that she’ll never approve a role playing game in any format.” That’s okay. People will just go on making their own Potter RPGs online.

Wizards of the Coast was undeterred and launched their own line of hardcover books inspired by Rowling's stories, including A Practical Guide to Wizardry:

How do you make a magic wand? Why does a wizard wear robes? What goes into a potion of invisibility? Arch Mage Lowadar invites you to join his school for talented young wizards and explore the magical world of wizardry. In this fully illustrated guide, readers will learn all about what it takes to become a great wizard--from the gear and magic items you need to the secrets of writing your own spells in the language of magic.

The book is a fascinating take on what might have been. It tweaks some elements of D&D (magic items are required to navigate the school and quite common, wands are a core implement for every wizard) and details other elements of spellcasting that have never been officially codified, including detailed descriptions of how verbal (actual phrases along with a pronunciation guide), somatic (drawings of wand gestures), and material components work.

David F. Chapman recently pitched a Harry Potter RPG to Warner Bros. It didn't get as far as he hoped:

I originally wrote most of the above posts a couple of years ago, shortly after we'd started talking to Warner Bros. about the possibility of doing a game, and only getting so far (it wasn't something they were considering at the time). Since then, the thoughts of a Harry Potter RPG have always been lingering in my mind. However, recently (and hence the new post) there was the announcement on Pottermore that Warner Bros. Interactive had launched a new gaming division called Portkey Games. A new division whose only purpose is to develop mobile and console games in the Wizarding World.

The promise of a RPG-like world will be realized this year.
[h=3]A Mobile "RPG"[/h]Potter fans will finally get a role-playing game in the form of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, a mobile RPG developed by Jam City in partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's Portkey Games:

In “Hogwarts Mystery,” players progress through their years at Hogwarts, participating in the magical classes and activities Potterheads have come to love, including Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, and Duelling Club. The game is actually set in the 1980s — before Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and friends have matriculated at the wizarding academy — although according to WB and Jam City, Albus Dumbledore and most of the iconic Hogwarts professors will appear in the game.

Given the enormous amount of enthusiasm and homebrewed role-playing games available on the Internet, it seems Rowling is finally coming around to the idea of approving a role-playing game in SOME formats. But even if there never is an official RPG, the franchise's influence is felt in the spread of Potter fandom, who are surely part of the renewed interested in D&D.

 

[Jacob Lewis]

Maybe it was for the best? I mean, how would that work in D&D? It's not as focused on combat and loot, which is the core of that particular game system. (Remember that discussion? Of course, it is still running!) Not to mention it is a well-documented fact (i.e disputed without end over countless threads by self-proclaimed experts and smarty-panted nerdists) that a party consisting solely of low-level wizards (are there really any other class options?) are incapable of surviving most encounters without a meat shield and a healer, and also very boring and dumb. (Not my words, you can google it.)

And, EXPELIOMUS!! Hopefully that dispels this thread before it becomes a threat.

 

[VengerSatanis]

Sounds like the reason they didn't OK a Harry Potter RPG is because there wasn't enough money in it. That's really sad our industry is so lacking. Hopefully, it's getting better.

 

[Jester David]

I've commented before that the absence of a Potterverse RPG was a huge absence in the industry and something that would have been a game changer. So many people love that world and would jump at the chance to play in it.

Of course, the biggest hurdle is the lack of internal logic and the limited views of the larger world. We're only just getting a half glimpse of the wizarding world outside of the schools in the Fantastic Beasts movies. Any RPG would have to have a "world guide" that would be problematic and either involve Rowlings or just require so much invention it might as well be a fan project.

 

[Morrus]

Numerous companies have approached Rowling to license Potter for an RPG. Rowling has put the kibosh on it every time. Something to do with creative control - she doesn't want other people writing Potter material.

 

[mikelaff]

Numerous companies have approached Rowling to license Potter for an RPG. Rowling has put the kibosh on it every time. Something to do with creative control - she doesn't want other people writing Potter material.

Compared to video games, board games and card games (areas where there have been licensed Potter products - some quite successful)the revenue from a licensed RPG would generate for her is (let's be honest) peanuts.

Also - the audience she's selling to primarily the YA and family market. Licensed products for cards, video games and board games make sense for that sort of target demo.

RPGs - eh, not so much.

 

[TerraDave]

Its worth noting that WotC did release a HP collectible card game (it was sort of magic-lite) and I am sure they tried to pitch something on the RPG side, hence Dancy's quote.

I have heard a few places she really doesn't like the concept. She is wiling to allow some others to play in the potter-verse, hence pottermore, which is fan-fic friendly, or the movies for that matter. Maybe she just doesn't get D&D.

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

Big-name licensing has been tricky in the RPG world for a long time and I suspect that's a factor here too - on top of the author's rejection, of course.

- In the middle of Lord of the Rings movies we had the one short-lived Decipher RPG and then nothing for 7-8 years.

- In the middle of the Marvel Cinematic explosion we had the one MWP Marvel RPG for not even a year and nothing new since

- Reasonably and perpetually popular Star Trek had no active RPG after 2003 and even after the new movie series started up in 2009 there was no RPG until last year.

This is despite all of these universes having long-lived, successful RPGs in the 80's and into the 90's for some. I think the IP holders have become far more strict about terms and costs have surely increased.

I agree that Harry Potter is a huge missed opportunity, particularly regarding potential new players. I'm not sure there's any reason to be more optimistic about this changing right now. Maybe if there's a new book or movie series or some other main line re-ignition of the universe they will be more interested and open to an RPG.

I also think that there was an attitude in many quarters that tabletop RPGs were too old a thing to bother with. I suspect that the success of D&D the last few years may have changed that in a lot of those places too. If there is a reason for optimism right now, I'd start there.

 

[Birmy]

Numerous companies have approached Rowling to license Potter for an RPG. Rowling has put the kibosh on it every time. Something to do with creative control - she doesn't want other people writing Potter material.

This is also, supposedly, why Rowling has never approved any comic book licensing (outside of a one-page illustration for a charity book).

 

[Keyframe18]

I guess I'm not surprised considering the death like grip Rowling has on her IP. People making their own stories in her sandbox? How dare they. It's her IP, so it's her right I guess, but damn, even the Tolkien estate isn't that bad.