Hogwarts Legacy is now the biggest global launch for Warner Bros Games. The title has sold more than 12 million units and $850 million in sales globally in just its first two weeks of launch.
Hogwarts Legacy was announced in September 2020 and instantly had Potter fans excited about returning to the school of witchcraft and wizardry. The game finally released on February 10th 2023 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Hogwarts Legacy is true to its name and has surpassed all of the company’s previous game launches and exceeded sales records across the three platforms, creating a true gaming legacy for Warner Bros.
The title has also seen massive success on streaming services, becoming the biggest single-player game ever on Twitch with 1.28 million peak concurrent viewers at launch.
Return to Hogwarts
It’s difficult to discuss the game without mentioning the controversies surrounding its release. These controversies stem from the original creator of the wizarding world JK Rowling and her comments regarding the trans community. These views resulted in some stating they would boycott the game as they didn’t wish to support a title that would benefit the author.
Despite the boycotts and a release that skipped PS4, Xbox One and the Nintendo Switch, the title has accumulated massive sales and attention. To put the sales into perspective, last year’s Game Awards game of the year winner Elden Ring shipped 13.4 million units in just under a month, a target that Hogwarts Legacy could be on course to surpass.
Hogwarts Legacy is also breaking company records for player engagement, with 280 million hours played to date. In addition, global franchise fan engagement has increased overall with the Wizarding World Digital garnering 300% higher traffic over the usual monthly visitor average for the first ten days of February.
Video game boost
It’s becoming more common for us to see media that spans various formats boost each other’s sales and engagement. The hit video game The Last of Us has become a popular HBO TV show, resulting in increased video game sales. We have seen this before with The Witcher 3 gaining a huge 554% boost in video game sales when the Netflix show aired, while Cyberpunk 2077 revenue soared by 70% when TV series Cyberpunk EdgeRunners was released.
President at Warner Bros Games, David Haddad commented, “We are so thrilled and proud to see the player response to Hogwarts Legacy from gamers, fans who are new to gaming and reviewers around the world. Our development team at Avalanche delivered an amazing, high-quality Wizarding World experience that truly fulfils the fan fantasy of life at Hogwarts and our publishing teams have executed a globally impactful launch campaign.”
The success of Hogwarts Legacy has already sparked rumours that a second game could be given the go-ahead.
Paige Cook is a writer with a multi-media background. She has experience covering video games and technology and also has freelance experience in video editing, graphic design, and photography. Paige is a massive fan of the movie industry and loves a good TV show, if she is not watching something interesting then she's probably playing video games or buried in a good book. Her latest addiction is virtual photography and currently spends far too much time taking pretty pictures in games rather than actually finishing them.
