In many ways, Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter game fans have wanted for years. The open-world action-RPG allows players to truly experience life at Hogwarts, selecting their wand, being sorted into a House, attending classes, and much more as they step into the shoes of a new student who’s entering the iconic School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a fifth-year.
Hogwarts Legacy has received largely positive reviews from critics and players alike, breaking sales and streaming records shortly after its initial launch. However, the game’s successes have also been tainted by various controversies surrounding both the franchise and the game itself. With the game available now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, here’s a guide to Hogwarts Legacy’s development, gameplay, and more.
Hogwarts Legacy is the first game from developer Avalanche Software since it became a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Games. Before being acquired by Warner Bros., Avalanche was owned by Disney and mostly made tie-in games for movies like Toy Story 3, Cars, Meet the Robinsons, and Bolt. Its most notable work prior to Hogwarts Legacy is Disney Infinity, the toys-to-life action-adventure sandbox game that used collectible figurines to unlock new characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars.
As an open-world game, Hogwarts Legacy offers a lot of challenges for players to complete within and outside the main story. From straightforward decisions like which Hogwarts House to join and more complex missions that require players to solve puzzles based on vague environmental hints, we have guides to help you out on your wizarding journey.
Like other open-world games, Hogwarts Legacy is filled with lots of side-quests and collectibles players will need to find if they want to experience everything the game has to offer. Completing these will earn players with experience, important upgrades, new cosmetics, and more.
Hogwarts Legacy has been the center of plenty of controversies since it was initially announced back in 2020. While Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling was not a part of the game’s development and Warner Bros. has consistently tried to distance the game from her, some fans are reluctant to purchase or engage with anything associated with Rowling’s creation given her controversial and continued remarks denigrating the transgender community. On the development side, lead designer Troy Leavitt came under fire for running an alt-right YouTube channel, which featured videos defending former Pixar executive John Lasseter (who has been accused sexual harassment), supporting GamerGate (which targeted women and minorities in the gaming industry), and criticizing social justice movements, among other things. Leavitt left the project and Avalanche in March 2021, though he claims his departure has nothing to do with the controversy, and Warner Bros. hasn’t commented on the matter.
Beyond that, many have pointed out that the game’s storyline, which features a goblin rebellion, plays into antisemitic tropes, an accusation that has also been levied at the books and their existing goblin lore. All this has led many to boycott Hogwarts Legacy, with a small but vocal minority going so far as to criticize and harass those playing the game.
Hogwarts Legacy is set in the late 19th century, about 100 years before the events of the Harry Potter novels and films. As such, the game mostly focuses on original characters living in the era, though there are plenty of references fans will recognize, from familiar family names, magical creatures, Easter eggs, and (of course) the school itself.
Developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Bros. Games under its Portkey Games label, Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It’s scheduled to release for PlayStation 4 and Xbox on April 4, with a Nintendo Switch port slated for July 25.
We hope you like the items we recommend and discuss! CBR has affiliate and sponsored partnerships, so we receive a share of the revenue from some of your purchases. This won’t affect the price you pay and helps us offer the best product recommendations.