Hogwarts Legacy Developer Interview: Building A Fresh Hogwarts

Developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warners Bros. Interactive under the latter's Portkey Games label, Hogwarts Legacy represents a much larger dive into the universe of Harry Potter than the series' previous video game adaptations. The game will take Harry Potter fans on a journey through the iconic castle, allowing them to create their own legacy and experience the Wizarding World in the 1800s, before the wizards and witches they know today ever graced the halls.

Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world, immersive, RPG, where players can create their own character, learn their own spells, and even dabble in the dark arts if they wish to. With a sizeable amount of customization and different common room areas available to students depending on a playthrough, there's a hint of replayability in an already big endeavor for players.

Screen Rant not only got some hands-on gameplay time, but also sat down with Avalanche Studios’ lead Game Designer Alan Tew and Senior Environment Artist Boston Madsen to discuss the creation of Hogwarts Legacy. Exploring how to create a game for fans new and old - and handshaking the lore of the books and of the films - the developers even let Screen Rant know how long it takes to 100% a playthrough – and , the duo knows all Hogwarts Castle's secrets.

How Hogwarts Legacy Will Still Be Nostalgic With Different Designs

Hogwarts Legacy's Nearly Headless Nick ghost screaming with surprise.

Screen Rant: [Playing Hogwarts Legacy] was the most fun I've had in a long time.

Boston Madsen: You looked like you were having fun!

It's absolutely incredible, all the little details. I'm curious, what percentage was pulled from the books? What percentage was pulled from movies?

Boston Madsen: As much as we could. And then we're making a game. We're not recreating things. We're not doing this, we're not doing that - we're making a good game.

Alan Tew: We know that there's gonna be a bunch of things that are just like - you want it to be familiar enough, right? It's like, okay, this is like the thing that I saw in the films, I recognize this tower, that tower, recognize this common room. So we want recognition. But we also want it to be really fun to play. And it seems like a lot of times, what would reconcile those arguments were the books, because the written descriptions would give us a little bit of wiggle room, where we could wind up being more authentic by following the books, or achieve a gameplay goal. We hope ultimately, though, that even the experience of Harry where he comes in - he doesn't know the castle, he doesn't know exactly how it works, and you're kind of seeing it with fresh eyes for the first time [too]. I think we're hoping that through all of these transactions, by solving all these things, we wind up with enough differences that you're having that same experience where it all feels fresh, you don't quite know exactly where it all is, but you know, you're in an authentic place and the right spot.

Boston Madsen: Well, I mean, there's more real estate in a game too, than a movie. As Alan said in his intro, we actually get a link. A movie, you have these disparate sets. They are separate. But in a game, we get to link them together. And actually piece the puzzle together. And that's where, in the books, we can lean on that.

A Hogwarts Legacy student brewing a potion on the left, and Minerva McGonagall's cat Animagus looking over on the right.

I know there's a lot that had to change for the movies from the books. Not dropped, but "altering" canon, I guess you could maybe call it. So how much of that did you have to deal with for the games?

Alan Tew: Yeah, I feel like there are definitely spots.

Boston Madsen: I know all the spots that have adjustments. I'm really proud of the areas that we like, handshaked the two together because they don't match up. The castle we know and love from the movies, and there's really nostalgia, [but it] does not necessarily exactly match the books. But I think we did a really good job of hitting the things that are really nostalgic from the movies. Not exactly. We weren't just recreating sets from the movies, we really put our own twist on it, but in ways that it's familiar enough.

Alan Tew: We wanted to make sure that everything felt completely authentic. We knew we would be adding things, we knew it'd be a different interpretation, we knew that we wanted to feel fresh - but we also really, really, really want to make sure that it felt authentic no matter what. So we worked really, really hard to make sure of that.

Boston Madsen: It's going to be fresh. If something doesn't match someone's [idea of] what they always pictured. That's okay, it's 100 years earlier. And it's a sentient castle with the mind of it its own, that has a personality. I'm imagining students, they're gonna tell their parents about the castle and [the parents will reply with] "well in my day that corridor didn't even exist" or "that stairway went left instead of right". I think everyone has a unique version of the castle.

Did you have a favorite environment to work on? Just in the cinematic trailer we saw the Forbidden Forest and more!

Boston Madsen: Common rooms. Those common rooms are very precious to everybody.

Alan Tew: [To Boston] I really hate it when we align all the time. I kind of want to give people more things... I'm a proud Ravenclaw that, every time, playing the game over and over again, just to make sure everything's in tip top shape, and something that we're proud to get the fans, it's like I've played all the different houses. I look at them and you kind of get into your roleplay you know, like, "Okay, I'm here as a Hufflepuff for the first time," "here as a Slytherin for the first time," and even the fact that they all have different music; they all have a different vibe. All of them are kind of meant to feel like home. You know, it's like, you've never heard the music before, but it feels nostalgic. And when you're in that place, and you've always dreamed of it, like when you read the books, just like, "Oh, which house would I be in, what would my common room look like?" it's something that we haven't seen before. When you feel at home and you feel nostalgia, it's a real vibe, and it's just great. Because I think when we started, we hoped that you could feel like you're there in a way that maybe you couldn't have been in different mediums. You do it in your imagination when you watch the films, but there's something about a game when you're there, and feel like "oh, I'm actually here."

Boston Madsen: There's something about being there. And then walking out the door, going up the stairs.

Alan, you had mentioned in your intro, but the Room of Requirement being a core place, was that your vision from the beginning?

Alan Tew: I think we were looking for - well, we knew Hogwarts was going to be like a home base for you. But also, there's something about when you can put energy into a space where it feels more and more like your own. And there could be different versions of that, but what we loved about the Room of Requirement is an opportunity where we knew it could take on what you want, your flavor, and that you could really just keep adding things to it where it would undeniably be yours, right? So it's kind of like this heart for you in the castle that cements the castle's calm when you play the game. All the loops in the game that constantly have you coming back, [the Room of Requirement] is like the heart that's circulating your experience as you go through the game. It was pretty early that we wanted something like that - a space that could take on that character, and it just wound up being the perfect thing.

Personally, when I play a game, I'm a completionist. I have to get 100%. To pick up every single thing I walk by. I am there to play this game from beginning to end. Can you talk about putting in all those little details to keep people like me entertained, but then other people that just want to play the story can just go past them?

Alan Tew: I think I play like you do. They make fun of me, because we're here to look at this. And I'm still grabbing stuff along the way. It doesn't even matter my progression, but I have to. So I'm kind of the same way. And I actually feel like when you do take that time and you go off the beaten path in the game, and you meet other characters, and do other things, and you learn about their stories; it really does have this way of creating a more joyous experience to the point where, having done some 100% playthroughs, I feel sadness when it's over. But to me, I love that I have that feeling even on like my fifth playthrough.

Boston Madsen: Something you said in the intro video, calling those classes tent poles. Where there are these events, they stay fresh, but they're kind of these pillars that hold things up. But you have so much freedom underneath.

A screenshot from a Hogwarts Legacy gameplay showcase picturing the titular castle on a partly cloudy day.

How many hours did it take you for 100% the game, your first time going through?

Alan Tew: My first time going through, 100% took me over 80 hours.

Boston Madsen: And he knows where everything is.

Alan Tew : You can imagine, I understand the game really well.

Boston Madsen: There's no wondering where something is. People play differently. Even watching you guys play. Some people are looking in every corner and looking at the walls. I saw you turning someone into a chicken!

Actually, something I wanted to mention is the spells. It's not like you just press a button, you have to learn the spells. That's a brilliant idea.

Alan Tew: Yeah, we wanted to make it feel like you're learning.

Boston Madsen: You're at school. And you get something from class.

Alan Tew: We tried to make it so that, when you go back to class, you recognize classes and recognize professors as the source of those things. So those opportunities pop up, like tentpole moments, but you always appreciate going back to class because you feel like you're growing as a richer experience.

Boston Madsen: That's why you're at school.

Well, thank you guys for your time talking with us.

Alan Tew: No, thank you so much. We're so excited to have people try it. This is the first time people are getting their hands on it.

Boston Madsen: It's been a lot of fun to watch.

Alan Tew: And then that blooms even more in the game itself with talents.

Boston Madsen: Everyone is discovering their own little things.

Alan Tew: I'm still discovering new things every time I play. Even I'm surprised, I'm just like wait, really? This is here? [...] One of my favorite things is how if you go back to the books, it really changes it when you feel like you've been told about this location, so you know what's around the corner. It's like you're revisiting those things. It feels different because you've been there. I love that feeling. It's such a good feeling.

Boston Madsen: And you haven't just been there, you put your own story there. It's really just a stage for you.

More: 2023 RPGs We're Most Excited To Play

Hogwarts Legacy releases on February 10, 2023 for PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S, or on February 7 for those who've pre-ordered the Deluxe Edition. It will then release on April 4, 2023 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and July 25, 2023 for Nintendo Switch. Screen Rant's Tessa Smith was invited to a hands-on preview event where this interview was conducted.

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.

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