Could We Be Seeing An Open-World Harry Potter Game In The Future?

With the announcement that Warner Bros and JK Rowling are working on a new series and that their would be some sort of video game involved, it got me thinking.  Is it possible we could see an open-world Harry Potter game at some point in the future?  There's definitely enough there to make a game, I just wonder if Warner Bros and EA (who I believe owns the rights) would be dedicated enough to release a fully fledged title.  

I had some ideas, and wanted to hear everyone elses as well...

An Open World:

One could probably assume that the game would take place in Hogwarts, the only place in the Wizarding World that has been truly fleshed out.  There's certainly enough variety.  

- Quidditch Pitch

- Hogwarts (which would be akin to a decently sized city if you accounted for all of the floors)

- The Forbidden Forest

- Hogsmeade (also very large)

- The Black Lake

- The Courtyards

- The Shreaking Shack

There's also a decent amount of peripheral areas that could figure their way in.  Obviously their is Diagon Alley, The Burrow, other schools, Azkaban, Ministry of Magic, Platform 9 and 3/4, Knockturn Alley, etc.  The great thing about the series is that JK Rowling never really developed it outside of Hogwarts, so there is plenty of room to expand.  

• With the next-gen systems coming out, there is no reason that you couldn't create this really expansive world.  Obviously, what Rowling did describe in the books was pretty specific, so they would probably want to focus on nailing down what was mentioned above.  
• There's no reason the game shouldn't be free roam -- similar to HP OotP.  

Building a Character:

Now that Harry's story is over, it would make perfect sense to let players develop their own characters.  It doesn't necessarily have to be full-on creation, but maybe something like Mass Effect where you are given a protagonist who you can build off of.  Here are some ideas...

• There's no reason that Harry Potter shouldn't be a fully fledged RPG game.  The world is huge, the setting is rich with depth, and there's a lot of ways you could customize your character.
• Age/Year -- maybe you could give players something to do post-Hogwarts.  We know a lot about the various jobs in the world, why not let that be part of the game?  So if someone doesn't want to have to go through a bunch of years at Hogwarts, they wouldn't have to.
• Specialty -- Healer/Dark Arts/Defensive/Athlete/etc.
• Gender
• Personality
• Interests
• Skills 

Gameplay: This is the one area I struggle to come up with much.  You could easily do something like Skyrim, where you various kinds of specialties and you can level up your skills through the usage of certain spells.  There's obviously things like Quidditch, wizard's chess, spell making, potion making, etc. to think about as well.  I really think there are a lot of possibilities here, but it might be difficult to execute.   

So what does everyone think?  Is it possible, or is it just a fools dream?

I'd really like to see a proper open world RPG in the Harry Potter setting with a fully customizable main character + deep system for spells, crafting, etc. as well.  There's a lot of good potential for a game like that.  We might get one eventually - there's obviously a market for it if anyone bothers to put effort into the license.  Unfortuantely with EA making games for the series we wind up getting shameful stuff like Deatlhy Hollows pt. 2 where they say sod it all and just make it a generic third person cover based shooter.

I'd really like to see a proper open world RPG in the Harry Potter setting with a fully customizable main character + deep system for spells, crafting, etc. as well.  There's a lot of good potential for a game like that.  We might get one eventually - there's obviously a market for it if anyone bothers to put effort into the license.  Unfortuantely with EA making games for the series we wind up getting shameful stuff like Deatlhy Hollows pt. 2 where they say sod it all and just make it a generic third person cover based shooter.

Alpha_S_

Which is a good point, I think.  EA has been able to scrape by simply by copy and pasting the films into a video game format.  That probably won't fly this time, given the series (probably) won't have the same kind of name value.  It's the perfect time to take a shot at a big Harry Potter game, one that both fans and gamers can enjoy.  

Can you imagine a Harry Potter game with the Frostbite engine?  I just think it is foolish not to capatalize on the series.  But it seems like that's what they'll be doing this time around, from the sounds of it.  

I'd definitely be interested in this and if it happened it would probably grab the attention of HP fans that are non-gamers, so it can be a good starting point for RPGs, especially since the source material is so well liked they can add some deeper RPG mechanics (that are absent from a lot of new RPGs) and kind of start a trend for future RPGs to be a bit more complex.  Plus, the world of HP is pretty awesome, so exploring it would be a fun time.

I would be super hyped for a game like that. Rowling has created not just a story but a whole world ready to be expanded. An RPG featuring life at Hogwarts as a student,then entering the "adult" wizarding world where you could have a specialty and many places(even muggle) of the UK to explore sounds like a great idea to me. And of course there countless other amazing ideas that could be implemented. I hope EA can see that...

I would love a Harry Potter MMO, could be really fun!

20 year old 'geeks' everywhere just came in their pants. What an abhorrent idea.

I doubt it.  Not enough things to kill in mass.  Unless they stray from the source material alot and add a bunch more violence.  I doubt JK would give her approval.  But then again, she did sell out to Disney.

I wouldn't mind seeing that at all, I love the books/movies.

I would be all for an open world Harry Potter RPG game.

something like a Harry Potter-ized version of Bully would be cool. Otherwise, not sure how it'd work if it was just based in and around Hogwarts. Now, if you played as an Auror...

For better or worse, it'll probably feature motion control functionality as well. *swish and flick*

It offers an interesting idea, but the development would be done for little more than a cash-grab most likely.