Indeed, by the end of 2023, Hogwarts Legacy had surpassed 22 million copies sold, of which approximately 2 million were sold during the December holiday season, according to Warner Bros. Games.
“But it’s not just the unit sold that I’m so proud of, it’s just that it delighted the fans so much. It brought Harry Potter to life in a new way for gamers where they could be themselves in this world, in this story. And that’s what the team at Avalanche set out to do when they were developing the game and I think that’s really why it resonated so well and remains the best-selling game of the year in the entire industry worldwide. That’s a position that typically is held by one of these incumbent’s sequel games and we’re so proud that we’ve been able to break into the top ranks.”
David Haddad, President of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Haddad‘s team has launched other successful titles, such as Mortal Kombat 1 last year.
From the release of the Avalanche Studio game on February 10 to December 31, this acclaimed AAA title from the fascinating Harry Potter universe, according to the publisher owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, Hogwarts Legacy has accumulated 707 million hours played. Haddad explained that many fans have returned and played the game more than once, choosing a different Hogwarts house for a unique story experience each time.
Also, some super interesting statistical data about the title have been made public, such as:
- 819 million potions brewed
- 1.3 billion magical plants harvested
- 593 million magical beasts rescued
- 4.9 billion dark wizards defeated across the map
After so much time, money, and magic invested in Hogwarts Legacy, it is totally understandable that Haddad and company are already working on new additions to the incredible Harry Potter universe. Obviously, this includes the title about the sport that the community has so requested, and whose absence has been missed, to the displeasure of most, in the current game. We’re talking about Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, which is currently in beta testing phase. However, without going into too much detail, they did let us know that they are also working on “a series of other things”, whose announcements are already being launched, and which “will let the fans be part of this world and stories and characters in deeper and deeper ways”, affirmed Haddad.
What’s Coming
Games set in J.K. Rowling‘s magical universe are not the only ones in Warner Bros. Games‘ sights, as would be expected from large companies, where orders come from higher-ups like J.B. Perrette, head of streaming and gaming, David Zaslav, CEO of WBD, or Gunnar Wiedenfels, CFO of the same. From their perspective, the directive has been to prioritize Warner Bros. franchises above all, in the quest for global gaming domination. Leaving aside Hogwarts Legacy, perhaps the biggest example of this in 2023 was Mortal Kombat 1, released on September 14. Haddad has stated that the recent title has attracted more players to the franchise than in its 30-year history, which, among other things, earned it its nomination as “best fighting game” of the year at the December Game Awards.
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League will be coming to us this coming February 2, and is, they claim, one of their most ambitious projects created to date. Added to the release of the free-to-play Multiversus, which will feature Warner Bros.-owned characters ready for battle. And we cannot forget the open-world single-player game, Wonder Woman, as well as games that will be canonical additions to the planned relaunch of the DC Universe, led by James Gunn and Peter Safran.
“A very consistent message coming from the executive layer of Warner Bros. Discovery is the importance of franchises. There’s a unique and important role games have in keeping our franchises relevant, resonant and exciting because there’s plenty of fans and plenty of people consuming content where games are their starting point, it’s their preferred form of content.”
David Haddad, President of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
A Few Drops of Felix Felicis
After Warner Bros. Games previously stated that there were no plans to add downloadable content to Hogwarts Legacy, there might now be a glimmer of hope for that. The stance and vision of David Haddad and his team show us that they are treating all the franchises they handle with great passion, not only from a commercial point of view, but also thinking more about the fan community, who, as we all know, are the ones who truly bring all these projects to life.
Hey you! Are you a Potterhead? Well, I am, and proudly so, haha… Come on, tell us in the comments what you expect from the playable universe of Harry Potter, or better yet, your best experiences in Hogwarts Legacy.
We’ll be reading! And don’t forget, “It’s Levi-o-sa, not Levio-sar” 🧙
Images Source: Hogwarts Legacy Official Page, Reddit
