Is the world of Harry Potter Turbine's next MMO project?

There has been a good deal of press lately about the $40 million in funding Turbine recently received. But what didn't get looked into deeply was who gave them that cash and why. If you follow the money, we think you'll find all roads lead to Hogwarts.

Turbine is a privately held gaming company that specializes in launching and maintaining games from well-known brands, Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online, specifically. Time Warner is one of the new investment partners in this latest round of financing for Turbine. They also own Warner Bros. Studios which owns not only the film rights to The Lord of the Rings (and upcoming Hobbit prequel), but also holds the video game publishing rights to the Harry Potter franchise which also just happens to be the biggest movie franchise in box office history.

But with only two more films left to release and no more books from J.K. Rowling on the horizon, what are they to do to keep their cash cow from going out to pasture? It looks like they are backing up the Brink's truck to the front door of the MMORPG developer who has a track record for publishing games based on other people's literary works. It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out where this is going especially since Warner Bros. confirmed to a popular Potter fan site they are considering a Potter MMO.

Only time will tell if this is true, but being fans of the Harry Potter franchise combined with our love of Turbine's focus on pushing the boundaries of social gaming, we couldn't be happier if we were on the right track.