Dive into the Wizarding World with stunning gameplay footage from 'Hogwarts Legacy' video game

Following years of development and hype, Hogwarts Legacy will finally be released to the public this holiday season. To celebrate the exciting (and magical) news, Warner Bros. Game released a 14-minute video showcasing the ambitious gameplay of the Wizarding World title. Once you watch the stunning footage and all the implications it carries, you'll realize why it took so long for this one to come out. 

In short, Hogwarts Legacy seems to be just the remedy for those Muggle Blues — everything die-hard fans still hoping to receive their Hogwarts acceptance letter via owl have ever dreamed of for close to three decades.

Developed in tandem with Portkey Games (the gaming banner solely dedicated to brewing up Harry Potter-related content), the sprawling open-world adventure is set at the titular school for witchcraft and wizardry in the late 1800s. The player can customize their own character before enrolling at Hogwarts as a Fifth Year student with a late academic start. After being sorted into one of the four houses, things get really interesting. You'll get to explore the castle and its grounds; unlock various secrets; make friends; play Quidditch, and, of course, partake in the available courses (learning how to duel, brew potions, identify magical herbs and fungi, etc.).

Since this takes place in the 19th century, most of the Hogwarts staff is unfamiliar, though longtime Potterheads won't have any trouble recognizing spectral mainstays like Nearly Headless Nick and the eternally-boring History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns. You'll also be caught up in an epic struggle involving rancorous goblins, dark wizards, a menagerie fantastic beasts, and an ancient type of magic that has suddenly re-appeared after centuries of dormancy.

Check out the gameplay below:

"The lore of the Wizarding World is already so rich and all we had to do was harness those elements and build a game out of it," Community Manager Chandler Wood explains in a 6-minute making-of featurette that debuted alongside the footage above.

"We really want to make sure that anything we add or anything we play with or anything that we explore really feels authentic," adds Game Director Alan Tew. "We're creating a real wide palette of opportunities and ways to explore the world. You're gonna see different stories that are really exclusive to you were in the world."

Watch now:

When it finally arrives this winter, Hogwarts Legacy will be available for a slew of different platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

For more from the world of Harry Potter, the next Fantastic Beasts sequel The Secrets of Dumbledore opens in theaters on April 15, while the original Harry Potter films are streaming now on Peacock.