TheHarry Potterfranchise has had a rocky few years, but in the world of gaming, it has fared much better, with last year’sHogwarts Legacybeing the highest-selling game of 2023. And while it doesn’t quite live up to those heights,Harry Potter: Quidditch Championsis another silver lining to the franchise’s otherwise darkened cloud.
Released on June 06, 2025,Harry Potter: Quidditch Championssees players pick up a broom, take to the skies, and compete in the iconic Wizarding World sport. After its absence inHogwarts Legacy, many fans were champing at the bit for a Quidditch video game, andHarry Potter: Quidditch Championsshould fulfill those desires, though it’s unclear for just how long.
Almost The Quidditch Game Fans Have Waited 11 Years For
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions’opening hour sees players compete in the Weasley Burrow Cup, which is essentially a tutorial for the game’s four distinct roles. Players can assumethe role of a Keeper, Seeker, Beater, or Chaser. While the same flight controls are used across the board, each role has one or two unique mechanics, such as the Beater’s ability to fire a Bludger at an opponent, and the Keeper’s ability to dive in front of a goalpost.
There’s a nice balance between accessible and engaging within these four roles. Players can understand the role’s purpose quickly, but it takes quite a bit of time to master the role completely. But once all the mechanics click,Harry Potter: Quidditch Championscan deliver some really fun gameplay moments. The feeling of boosting through the air as a Chaser, tackling an opponent, dodging a Bludger, and getting the Quaffle past the opposing Keeper to score a goal is exactly the type of fast-paced, satisfying action that fans have been searching for since2003’sHarry Potter: Quidditch World Cupon the PS2.
Quidditch Champions Has Some Caveats That Stop it From Feeling Like the Complete Package
Harry Potter: Quidditch Championshas been marketed first and foremost as an online multiplayer game. Currently, there’s just one proper game mode for online PvP multiplayer, and that’sQuidditch Champions' 3v3 mode. In this mode, players are given two roles that they need to swap between, with one always being a Chaser. This system doesn’t feel well-balanced.
While it’s easy for aSeeker/Chaserto balance their two roles, as the Seeker only comes onto the pitch when the Snitch appears, it’s a bit more difficult to balance being a Beater/Chaser, as both roles are needed at all times during a game. This balancing act is exponentially harder for a Keeper/Chaser, as they’re forced to frantically swap between being the primary line of defense and an important offensive tool.
Some players will find this balancing act engaging, others will find it frustrating. A 6v6 mode is currently planned for release before the end of 2024, but it’s a sizable knock against the game that it isn’t available at launch.
But whileHarry Potter: Quidditch Champions' PvP content might be a bit lacking in terms of modes, its PvE content is a bit more complete.Quidditch Championsoffers three tournaments, encompassing the Hogwarts House Cup,the Triwizard Cup, and the World Cup. Players can also host an Exhibition match between any team they’ve unlocked via completing tournaments. It’s not the most extensive offering in a sports game, but it should give fans of the 2003Quidditch World Cupgame just about everything they’re looking for.
However,Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions' single-player also comes with a pretty sizable caveat. Though there are five AI difficulty levels inQuidditch Champions, only the highest offers a real level of challenge, and arguably, even that difficulty tier won’t engage skilled players for too long.
A big problem with playing solo is that both the player’s team and the opposing team will get more aggressive on higher difficulties, which ironically leads to a stalemate between them. For instance, while the opposing Keeper is harder to score against on the highest difficulty, so is the player’sAI-controlled Keeper, meaning that the difficulty hasn’t actually changed.
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions' Progression Is Fine, For Now
There are two key forms ofprogression inHarry Potter: Quidditch Champions: Career Rewards and Season Rewards. Career Rewards give players new brooms, currency that can be used to upgrade them, and skill points that can be used to upgrade the player’s custom team. Each role has a separate skill tree with three distinct branches, which offers some solid depth as it’s home to both simple stat boosts and new abilities.
But a big drawback of this skill system is that players can only equip 10 skill points at a time, which is only enough to fill one of the skill tree’s three branches. This cap ensures that higher-level players aren’t trouncing newcomers, but it also means that once those 10 skill points have been earned, there’s no more character progression in the game. And it only takes a few hours of gameplay to earn 10 skill points.
Some of the currency players earn through both Career and Season Rewards can be used to purchase cosmetics, such as skins based on iconicHarry Pottercharacters like Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy.
Season Rewards are essentiallyHarry Potter: Quidditch Champions' Battle Pass. While it’s great that players can unlock all ofQuidditch Champions' Season Rewards without needing to spend any real-world cash, those rewards are dished out at an incredibly slow pace. After around 13 hours of gameplay, I had only unlocked the 12th tier of Season Rewards.
All in all,Harry Potter: Quidditch Championshas some good progression systems on paper, but much like a lot of the game’s other features, their execution leaves a little to be desired.
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions Looks, Sounds, and Feels Pretty Magical
One thing thatHarry Potter: Quidditch Championsgets very right is its presentation. Rather than go for arealistic art style likeHogwarts Legacy,Quidditch Championshas chosen a more stylized approach to its art direction, which, for the most part, works really well.
This more cartoony art style givesQuidditch Championsa vibrancy that suits a game set inthe Wizarding World, and it allows repeated maps (there are three Hogwarts and four Weasley Burrows maps) to look and feel surprisingly distinct thanks to slight changes in weather effects and lighting. Character faces can look a little uncanny and lifeless under this art style, but that’s not a consistent issue or one that’s too noticeable during gameplay.
Sound design is also a key strength ofHarry Potter: Quidditch Champions. The music used throughoutQuidditch Champions' loading screens and menus feels authentic toJohn Williams' original score. The game’s sound effects are also very strong, with the thud of a Bludger hit sounding suitably punchy and a broom’s thunderous boost sounding appropriately powerful. These sound effects are reinforced by the game’s particle effects, which emit a joyous rupture of light and color whenever a player scores a goal or passes through a Snitch’s boost ring.
Performance-wise,Quidditch Championsalso seemed to run well on PlayStation 5, with there being no real issues of note during gameplay. A game’s presentation often marks the difference between a fine and a good game, andHarry Potter: Quidditch Champions' presentation gets it over that line. Though, it has to be said that the game’s English accents – particularly for Fred and George – are laughably bad at times.
The Quaffle-Shaped Elephant in the Room
In its current state,Harry Potter: Quidditch Championsis a fun, albeit flawed game. But like most multiplayer-oriented releases nowadays, this isn’t the final product. WhileQuidditch Champions' core structure, gameplay, and presentation probably won’t be changing anytime soon, the game’slive-service approachdoes imply that it’ll receive new content in the near future.
But the big question is just what this new content will be. The current roadmap forQuidditch Championsstates a new season will arrive in the Winter, with a handful of themed events taking place between then and now. New Season Rewards will be a nice bonus for those enjoyingQuidditch Champions' gameplay, but it won’t be enough to hook players for the long term or get newcomers on board.
Harry Potteris still a license that holds a lot of weight, but the live-service model requires a large player-base to stick around for an extended period to be successful, andQuidditch Champions' lackluster roadmap doesn’t really encourage players to stick around.Quidditch Champions' $30 price tag could also be a barrier for those who can’t redeem the game forfree via PlayStation Plus.
There’s some real promise peeking out ofHarry Potter: Quidditch Champions' surface, and if the game’s various kinks can be ironed out, it could become something truly special. But that pitch is long, and those goalposts are high.
WHERE TO PLAY
Harry Potter: Quidditch Championsis available now for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Game Rant was given a PS5 code for the purposes of this review.
