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 is part of the Wizarding World franchise, taking place 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. Development commenced in 2018, while pre-release gameplay footage was leaked onto the internet in the same year. The storyline was designed to take place in a period untouched by established Wizarding World characters, offering players the opportunity to immerse themselves in their own distinct universe.
The game garnered significant anticipation upon announcement in 2020. 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, on 5 May 2023 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and on 14 November 2023 for Nintendo Switch. 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 of launch, the game sold more than 12 million copies and generated $850 million in global sales revenue. As of May 5, 2023, its revenue reached $1 billion, and by the beginning of 2024, global sales totaled 24 million copies. Hogwarts Legacy received generally favourable reviews from critics, with praise for its combat, world design, characters, variety of content, and faithfulness to the source material, but criticism for its technical problems and lack of innovation as an open-world game.
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