It's often assumed that there's no smoke without fire, so rumours this week that the much-anticipated open-world Harry Potter game, Hogwarts Legacy, was going to be delayed out of its 2022 release window had made some fans anxious.

The rumours originate from a discussion on a podcast called Sacred Symbols, in which a journalist claimed to have sources indicating Hogwarts Legacy was going to be delayed into 2023 and has hit some development trouble.

While Warner Bros., which will be publishing the game, hasn't come out and openly responded to the rumour, an update from Harry Potter hub Wizarding World has included it in a list of 2022 highlights, which would seem to re-confirm that it should appear this year.

That said, this isn't exactly an ironclad promise, and a game is always slated for its planned release date right up until the very minute that a major delay is announced, so it's far from impossible that Hogwarts Legacy might still miss its window.

The game is an open-world RPG set in the world of Harry Potter but will let players select their own character and make choices that should impact the story they'll uncover in significant ways, and looks like it could be a world of fun.