Hogwarts Legacy is one of the most highly anticipated video games of 2023, with only a few weeks left until its release. After many years of development and some delays, the title set in the world of Harry Potter has been accumulating successes, even before it hits the market. However, it also skirts controversy.
In this article, we will delve into the magical world of Hogwarts Legacy to discuss its records, expectations, and why it is causing so much commotion.
The Most Anticipated
The good thing about numbers is that they don’t lie – the interpretation of the numbers is another matter altogether. At the moment, Hogwarts Legacy is the most desired game on Steam with a total of 266,339 records. This means that all these users have added this adventure to the “wish list” of the platform. Does this mean they are going to buy it? Not at all, but it is a statement of intent for the future. However, there is one very relevant number that does speak well for sales.
According to the Steamdb database, at the moment, Hogwarts Legacy is one of the top five best-selling video games on Steam. Here it’s not just clicking on the wish list, but it means that people have bought it and are waiting for it to be released for download (and download it, of course).
These are PC numbers, but all indications are that console sales will be similar. In fact, sales analyst Benji Sales forecasts 5 to 6 million video games sold during its first week on sale.
What is Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy is a video game that takes the universe created by J.K. Rowling as a background. This means that all those identifying elements will be present in that world, from Hogwarts School to many of its main characters. We are not talking about protagonists, but of creatures, rooms, subjects, etc. Everything that revolves around the Harry Potter universe, as the game has licensed it. However, it is set in the 1890s, not during the actual adventure of Harry Potter.
The video game is being developed by Avalanche, a studio with a lot of experience creating titles for almost three decades. However, it is worth noting that in January 2017, it was acquired by Warner Bros, and this detail is especially important: only a few months later, the company created Portkey Games, a label to launch video games set in the Harry Potter universe.
Everything points to this being when the development of this Hogwarts Legacy began. In fact, at the end of 2018, material from an RPG project that had this universe as its protagonist was leaked. When it was officially announced in September 2020, users could confirm that all that leaked material belonged to Hogwarts Legacy.
It should be noted that the game was planned to be released in 2021, but it was delayed twice: first to 2022, and then to 2023. Now, it seems that this will be the definitive release date, on February 10th for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S and Nintendo Switch (this version will be available in July).
The controversy
Controversy The development of Hogwarts Legacy has been plagued with controversy. Beyond the delays and secrecy surrounding the game, there is one aspect that is being the most talked about: J.K. Rowling’s involvement in the development.
As the reader already knows, the Anglo-Saxon writer has been embroiled in controversy since 2019 over transgender people. Rare is the month where she doesn’t make a statement against this group, something that, as is logical, has not been well received by the readership. In fact, even actors such as Daniel Radcliffe or Emma Watson, who are so important for being the protagonists of the Harry Potter movies, have taken a stance against her.
In light of all this controversy, both the studio and publisher have emphasized on multiple occasions that J.K. Rowling is not involved in the production of the game. She has only granted the rights to use her work for the studio to create their own world.
Despite this confirmation, there have been numerous players who have taken a stance against the video game over the past three years, with some even commenting that it should not be bought. However, as can be seen by the numbers of pre-orders and wishlists, it seems that Hogwarts Legacy will be a success.
