Hogwarts Legacy

• 1. Introduction

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  On the 7th of February 2023, Hogwarts Legacy reached a peak of 1.28 million people watching it at once on Twitch. That was the first day of early access, and it made the game the most-watched single-player title the platform had hosted. Hogwarts Legacy is an action role-playing game from Avalanche Software, published by Warner Bros. Games under its Portkey Games label. Players take the part of a student who attends classes, learns spells and explores a magical castle and the land around it.

  The crowds on Twitch were only one sign of how much attention the game drew. It also set off calls for a boycott and arguments about how it portrayed its villains. What ancient secret does the student uncover? How did a studio rebuild a school that millions of fans already knew by heart? And why did so many people argue about a game before they had played it?

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• 2. Ancient Magic

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  In the 1890s, a letter from Professor Matilda Weasley confirms a new fifth-year student's place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That is roughly a century before the Harry Potter novels begin. The student is whoever the player creates, voiced by either Sebastian Croft or Amelia Gething. The letter also names Professor Eleazar Fig, a teacher of magic theory voiced by Nicholas Guy Smith, as the student's mentor. A flying coach carries the pair from London toward the castle.

  Soon afterward, while the two investigate an unknown artefact, a dragon attacks them. Hidden inside the artefact is a Portkey, and it whisks them to the Scottish Highlands. There they find a ruin with a portal to Gringotts, and an old vault beyond it. Inside, the student discovers an ability to see traces of ancient magic. A hostile goblin named Ranrok confronts the pair before they escape to Hogwarts, where the student is sorted into one of the four houses.

  Lessons and adventures follow. On a trip to Hogsmeade with a companion, the student defeats a troll that Ranrok sent. Back at the castle, the student sneaks into the library and finds a book with missing pages. While Fig studies the book, the student tracks down the pages and discovers a secret room below Hogwarts called the Map Chamber. Four portraits of dead professors hang there. They call themselves the Keepers, and their purpose is to protect the secrets of ancient magic from the wizarding world.

  The Keepers set four trials, and each one ends at a Pensieve, a device for storing and reviewing memories. Those memories tell of Isidora Morganach, a Hogwarts student who later became a professor, with abilities like the protagonist's. She clashed with the Keepers and left behind a hidden repository of ancient magic. She had used it to draw negative emotions out of people, especially her suffering father. The Keepers realised she was inhaling those emotions to grow more powerful. When they failed to talk her out of it, one of them killed her with the Killing Curse.

  Ranrok leads a goblin rebellion against wizards, and he wants the repository for his own ends. To find it, he works with Victor Rookwood, who leads a group of Dark Wizards and descends from one of the Keepers.

  After the four trials, the Keepers give the student a last task. The student must craft a special wand from the artefacts found at the Pensieves. Fig sends the student to the wandmaker Gerbold Ollivander. As the student leaves the shop, Rookwood ambushes them and offers an alliance against the goblins. The student refuses and wins the battle that follows. The student and Fig then find the repository, but Ranrok interrupts and destroys it. He absorbs the ancient power and turns into a dragon, injuring Fig.

  The student defeats Ranrok and ends the rebellion. Then comes a choice between keeping the ancient magic sealed away and absorbing it. Whichever way the player decides, Fig dies. Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black, voiced by Simon Pegg, and Professor Weasley, voiced by Lesley Nicol, hold a eulogy in his honour.

  Ordinary school life resumes, with preparation for the O.W.L. exams at the end of the year. Adventures with the companions Sebastian Sallow, Ominis Gaunt, Poppy Sweeting and Natsai Onai remain to be finished. Weasley closes the story by awarding the student 100 house points, and the points carry the student's house to the House Cup.

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• 3. Student Life

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  Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin each keep a common room that only their own members can enter. Each house also has quests of its own. The Sorting Hat guides the choice. Before that, players shape a character by customising appearance, voice and complexion, and they decide whether to sleep in a witch or a wizard dormitory. The game is played from a third-person view.

  Classes are not optional extras. Attending and finishing them unlocks mechanics such as flying on a broom. Over time the student learns to cast spells, brew potions and fight, and eventually settles into a personal style of combat. Quests and challenges earn experience points. A separate talent tree for improving spells and abilities opens up as the game moves along. Some non-player characters become companions, offering side quests about their relationships with the student, and they can join certain missions.

  The Room of Requirement works as a home base. Players can fill it with objects and reshape its architecture, using spells to conjure, alter or delete things. It stores utility items such as brewing stations and planting pots, and these can be customised too. It also holds vivariums for magical beasts. Players can tame, look after and ride creatures including hippogriffs and thestrals, and they can keep unicorns, kneazles and puffskeins there as well. Plants have uses in a fight. Mandrakes, for example, stun enemies.

  Hogsmeade offers shops and taverns, among them the sweet shop Honeydukes and the Hog's Head. The Forbidden Forest is home to familiar creatures such as centaurs and spiders. Across the open-world map, players move at their own pace and meet goblins, poachers and trolls. Some areas stay locked until the main plot reaches certain milestones. Treasure chests hold gear, and the Revelio spell works like a scanner that reveals secrets. To cross the map quickly, players can use Floo Powder for fast travel, or they can simply fly there on a broom.

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• 4. Building Hogwarts

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  In January 2017, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment bought Avalanche Software from Disney. The same year, Warner Bros. created the Portkey Games label to manage the Wizarding World licence. Hogwarts Legacy became the studio's first project unconnected to Disney Interactive Studios since 2005. It was built with Unreal Engine 4, and its production cost is estimated at $150 million. J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, was not directly involved in its development.

  Lead writer Moira Squier said the team deliberately chose a period without established protagonists such as Harry Potter or Newt Scamander. That freed players to explore a world of their own, while the setting still echoed the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts eras. The main Harry Potter characters never appear, but Nearly Headless Nick and Peeves the Poltergeist do. The writers wanted a range of characters that players could relate to and see themselves in. The character creator has no gender options. The team also introduced Sirona Ryan, the franchise's first transgender character.

  Boston Madsen, the environmental lead for Hogwarts, stressed staying close to the Harry Potter books. He described the castle as Avalanche's own version that is still easy to recognise. Game director Alan Tew added that the team wanted to go beyond the expected areas and let players find new locations and hidden chambers. Tew and Madsen said each house common room was designed to feel distinct, with its own music, and the aim was a welcoming mood of nostalgia and belonging.

  Lead designer Troy Leavitt said the studio could pick the elements fans were most excited about. He added that the game was meant to deliver the wizarding world fans had always wanted from the books and films, without pushing any particular agenda or message. Game designer Troy Johnson said newer technology and consoles finally made a competent game of this kind possible. Artists Jeff Bunker and Vanessa Palmer described five technical pillars: 4K graphics, 3D audio, activities and game assistance, the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller, and fast loading. Using the Niagara effects system in Unreal Engine, they gave each spell its own visual language. The result was dozens of distinct magical effects.

  Chuck E. Myers, J. Scott Rakozy and Peter Murray composed the soundtrack, with additional tracks by Alexander Horowitz. Murray and Rakozy said the challenge was balancing original music against the existing score of the Wizarding World films. One piece, Overture to the Unwritten, was released early. The Seven Springs Symphony Orchestra & Choir performed it, and it appeared in a promotional music video.

  The soundtrack was announced in December 2022 for release in February 2023. It came out as two digital double albums totalling 75 tracks. One is Hogwarts Legacy (Original Video Game Soundtrack), and the other is Hogwarts Legacy (Study Themes from the Original Video Game Soundtrack). A vinyl edition was mastered by James Plotkin and distributed by Mondo. Music from the game was also performed at the 2023 Hollywood Bowl concert celebrating the tenth anniversary of The Game Awards.

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• 5. Delays and Updates

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  Gameplay footage leaked in 2018, well before any formal announcement. The game was revealed at a PlayStation 5 event in September 2020. Its first planned release year was 2021, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. Two delays followed, first to 2022 and then to the 10th of February 2023. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions slipped further, to the 5th of May 2023.

  Three editions went on sale: Standard, Deluxe and Collector's. The Deluxe Edition adds a mount, a clothing set and an exclusive battle arena. The Collector's Edition adds a steel case, a box and a collectible "floating wand". Standard owners can buy the extras separately to upgrade. Early access was reserved for people who pre-ordered the physical Collector's Edition or the Digital Deluxe Edition. A limited-edition DualSense controller called the "Revelio Controller" launched in the United States and United Kingdom alongside the game.

  The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launch brought an arachnophobia mode. It replaces ordinary spiders with a cartoonish version that has no legs and wears roller skates, a reference to the Harry Potter books. Den of Geek welcomed the addition but would have preferred an option to remove spiders as enemies altogether.

  Shiver Entertainment built the Nintendo Switch port, released on the 14th of November 2023 after an original target of the 25th of July 2023. The PlayStation 5 Pro received graphics enhancements. A Nintendo Switch 2 version launched with that console on the 5th of June 2025, with better graphics and shorter loading times.

  Some extras were tied to promotions. Players who joined the Harry Potter Fan Club and linked a WB Games account received free cosmetic items. PlayStation versions carried pre-order bonuses: the Haunted Hogsmeade Shop quest, which has an extra dungeon, a cosmetic set and an in-game shop, and the Felix Felicis potion recipe, which reveals gear chests on the map. Until the 24th of February 2023, viewers could earn five exclusive cosmetic items by watching selected livestreams on Twitch. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launch offered the Professor Ronen cosmetic set, with seven more items available through Twitch Drops.

  Shortly after release, Alan Tew said the team was focused only on the launch and had no plans yet for further additions. In May 2024, the developer announced a major update for the 6th of June. It added a photo mode, talent point resets and new cosmetic items, and it opened pre-order bonuses and earlier console-exclusive items, including the Haunted Hogsmeade Shop quest, to all platforms. In January 2025, PC players gained mod support through the Hogwarts Legacy Creator Kit.

  In March 2025, Bloomberg's Jason Schreier reported that Warner Bros. had cancelled an unannounced story expansion planned for later that year. A Definitive Edition containing all earlier releases was cancelled with it. According to Schreier, the company felt the expansion was not substantial enough to justify its anticipated price.

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• 6. Goblins and Boycotts

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  The Goblin Rebellion era of Wizarding World history became the centre of one argument. Hogwarts Legacy drew criticism for setting its story in that era and for asking the protagonist to put down a goblin uprising. Goblins in the Wizarding World have previously been criticised as based on antisemitic tropes. TheGamer argued that the game casts goblins, a minority fighting their oppressors for equal rights and freedom, as the villains.

  Others defended the portrayal. The non-governmental organisation Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote that the Harry Potter depiction of goblins matches their place in Western literature. It called that "a testament more to centuries of Christendom's antisemitism than it is to malice by contemporary artists". The group also praised Rowling as a "tireless defender of the Jewish community". Travis Northup of IGN disagreed that the game used antisemitic tropes. He pointed out that the story shows no group of goblins running banks or seizing power. It follows a single goblin who rebels because the wizarding world refuses to let his kind use magic.

  A second dispute centred on Rowling's controversial views on transgender people. Her critics called for a boycott, both to support the transgender community and to deny her the financial benefit of the release. Others felt the game could be separated from her views. Transgender YouTuber Jessie Earl said each side should reach its own conclusions. She said it was not wrong to want to play, but that those who did should not claim to support the trans community.

  The studio responded that it had aimed to create a "rich and diverse" world representing all groups of people. David Haddad, president of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, said Rowling has the right to hold her views. Shortly before release, someone created a website to identify Twitch streamers who played the game. It came down soon after its creator faced criticism. Some streamers chose not to play the game, and Polygon noted this was either to support ongoing protests or from fear of harassment.

  The fallout reached the press. Some publications declined to cover or review the game, and the internet forum ResetEra banned all discussion of it. Wired gave it the lowest possible score, calling its story and gameplay mediocre and harmful. Some publications declared the boycott unsuccessful. Den of Geek and PC Games both said the issues around Rowling seemed to have had minimal effect on sales.

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• 7. Critics' Verdict

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  Metacritic summarised the reviews as "generally favourable", and OpenCritic reported that 88% of critics recommended the game. In Japan, four critics at Famitsu gave it a combined 37 out of 40. The strongest praise went to the world itself. GamesRadar+ complimented how faithful it is to existing Wizarding World lore, and NME wrote that it was probably the most fitting depiction for fans. Push Square found the atmosphere and visuals so strong that even aimless walks around Hogwarts were enjoyable. The Scottish Highlands earned similar praise.

  The open-world design split opinion. PC Gamer praised the straightforward but cohesive systems, such as wizard duels and the personalised Room of Requirement. Eurogamer Germany said the attention to detail pushed players to explore. Destructoid liked the range of activities and unlockables, yet found the open world less than satisfying. NME thought the design felt dated and blamed the long development cycle. The Guardian called the game competent but not impressive and felt its progression borrowed from other open-world games. GameRevolution called it fun but forgettable fan service, wrote that classes and potion-making lacked depth, and regretted the absence of Quidditch.

  Combat won the most consistent praise. PCGamesN rated it the strongest part, citing fluid mechanics, varied enemies and the strategic use of colour-coded spells, even with only four equipped at a time. The A.V. Club found it the most interesting feature, and GameSpot said it gave players a strong sense of control. GameSpot disliked the spell-selection controls and the unremarkable enemy design. Game Informer enjoyed the combat but found the enemies lacked variety.

  The story divided critics. Windows Central called it compelling, and Video Games Chronicle rated the detailed side quests among the best the series has offered. Hardcore Gamer thought the story riveting but weaker toward the end. PCMag criticised the decision to make the protagonist a "Chosen One". Other reviewers found the plot lacklustre and at times illogical.

  Characters fared better. Windows Central found them interesting, PCMag praised the voice acting and the ethnic diversity of the cast, and Game Informer called the voice acting and dialogue uniformly excellent. IGN admired the companions. Video Games Chronicle thought some NPCs beyond Hogwarts felt lifeless, while Hardcore Gamer judged Ranrok and Rookwood weaker than established Harry Potter villains. PinkNews reported that many in the transgender community and their allies dismissed Sirona Ryan's inclusion as insincere.

  Technical trouble marked the launch. PC Gamer met brief but frequent pauses at doors and frame rate drops in quiet moments. Eurogamer Germany noted shading problems and stiff facial expressions. Many reviewers listed slow texture loading, visual glitches, clipping objects and uneven lighting. GameStar saw performance problems on PC, especially in crowded areas, but said the first patch eased some of them.

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• 8. Sales and Legacy

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  On the 23rd of February 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that Hogwarts Legacy had sold more than 12 million copies. By the 5th of May 2023 the total reached 15 million, and earnings passed $1 billion. The game hit 22 million by the end of 2023, with about 2 million of those sold during the December holidays. It reached 30 million in October 2024 and 34 million by the end of March 2025. By December 2025 it had sold 40 million copies, one of the best-selling video games.

  Regional charts told the same story. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at the top of the physical sales chart and stayed there five weeks in a row, fifteen weeks in total. Analysts comparing first-week sales with Elden Ring found physical sales up 80% and digital sales up 88%. In Germany it sold more than 600,000 copies in two and a half weeks. Across Europe, its launch ranked as the sixth-largest for any video game since the European Monthly Charts began. In Japan, the PlayStation 5 version debuted on top with 67,196 physical copies sold.

  On Steam, the game peaked at over 489,000 concurrent players during early access. At that time only Cyberpunk 2077, with more than 1 million, had a higher peak among single-player games. Hogwarts Legacy later peaked above 879,000 players. Because Steam reports pre-orders separately from official releases, the game held the top four spots on the platform's sales chart at one point in its first week.

  For 2023, Hogwarts Legacy was the best-selling game in the United States. That ended a 14-year streak in which a Call of Duty or Rockstar Games release held the top spot. In Europe it was the second best-selling game of the year. It topped the annual charts in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

  Awards followed. Before release it was nominated for "Most Anticipated Game" at the Game Awards 2022. A Guinness World Record recognised its Twitch viewership. At the 20th British Academy Games Awards it was longlisted in nine categories and nominated for Animation and Family. It also received nominations at the D.I.C.E. Awards and the Grammy Awards. The Steam Awards nominated it for "Game of the Year" and named it "Best Game on Steam Deck". Eurogamer Germany gave it "Best Fanservice", and the PS Blog Game of the Year Awards named it "PS4 Game of the Year".

  The effect reached the wider franchise. In its release month, Hogwarts Legacy became the most successful game in the Wizarding World franchise, and traffic on Wizarding World websites rose by 300%. In August 2024, Warner Bros. said it would develop more Wizarding World games, such as Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions. In September 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery's Gunnar Wiedenfels named a sequel as one of the corporation's primary goals. That sequel is planned to connect with the upcoming Harry Potter reboot television series.

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