Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy is a 2023 action role-playing game developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Bros. Games under its Portkey Games label. The game, part of the Wizarding World franchise, takes place in the late 1800s, a century prior to the events chronicled in the Harry Potter novels. The player controls a student enrolled in the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who learns to wield an array of magical abilities and objects. With the assistance of fellow students and professors, the protagonist embarks on a journey to unearth an ancient secret concealed within the wizarding world.
Following their acquisition by Warner Bros. in 2017, Hogwarts Legacy marks the first release from Avalanche unrelated to Disney Interactive Studios and its products. The game's development commenced in 2018, while pre-release gameplay footage was leaked onto the internet in the same year. The storyline was crafted to unfold in a period untouched by established Wizarding World characters, offering players the opportunity to immerse themselves in their own distinct universe. Avalanche Software emphasised that while their rendition of Hogwarts is their own interpretation, it had been carefully designed to maintain a sense of familiarity and recognition.
When first officially announced in 2020, the game garnered significant anticipation. Prior to its release, it attracted controversy due to Harry Potter creator J. K. Rowling's views on transgender people and accusations of including antisemitic tropes, leading to calls for a boycott. Following some delays, it was released on 10 February 2023 for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S and on 5 May 2023 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It is scheduled for release on Nintendo Switch in November 2023. The early-access period of Hogwarts Legacy resulted in record-breaking viewership on streaming platform Twitch, making it the most-watched single-player game of all time on the platform.
Within two weeks after its launch, the game sold more than 12 million copies and generated $850 million in global sales revenue. As of 5 May 2023, revenue crossed $1 billion and 15 million copies were sold globally. Hogwarts Legacy received generally favourable reviews from critics, with praise for its combat, world design, characters, and faithfulness to the source material, but criticism for its technical problems and lack of innovation as an open-world game.
