Summary
- Hogwarts Legacy's late addition to the Nintendo Switch platform has been impressively successful, with the game selling fantastically well.
- The game's strong sales on the Switch have made it the third-biggest release on the platform in 2023, only beaten by popular franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros.
- Despite not receiving any nominations at The Game Awards, Hogwarts Legacy has sold over 15 million copies and surpassed $1 billion in sales, indicating a highly successful launch and likely future sequels.
Hogwarts Legacy released on the Nintendo Switch on November 14, and the game is selling fantastically well. Hogwarts Legacy's full release was back in February, so the game's continued momentum with its late addition to the Switch platform is an impressive feat.
Leading up to its release, Switch-owning Harry Potter fans eagerly awaited Hogwarts Legacy's Nintendo Switch debut. While the Switch's hardware led some to worry that the game would need to be substantially downgraded, fans were relieved when Hogwarts Legacy Switch gameplay leaked online shortly before its release, which revealed that the game looked surprisingly good. The power of Harry Potter fandom, combined with Avalanche Software's successful port, created an impressive launch for Hogwarts Legacy's introduction to the Switch.
Hogwarts Legacy Needs to Tread Carefully with Its Sequel's Hardest Decision
Some elements need tweaking in a Hogwarts Legacy sequel, and Avalanche Software has a few factors to consider for its toughest component.
GamesIndustry.biz's Christopher Dring tweeted that Hogwarts Legacy is now 2023's third-biggest release on the Switch, only beaten by The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, two franchises that are regular chart toppers on the Nintendo platform. Hogwarts Legacy's strong Switch sales propelled it back up to the number one spot on the UK boxed charts, dethroning industry titan Call of Duty. Hogwarts Legacy was released on Xbox, PlayStation, and Windows over nine months ago, making its current popularity on Switch especially impressive.
While its exceedingly strong performance on the Switch is an exciting development for Hogwarts Legacy fanatics, fans were disappointed earlier this month when The Game Awards did not give Hogwarts Legacy a single nomination. This snubbing comes in spite of the fact that Hogwarts Legacy sold over 15 million copies and was one of the year's most popular open-world games. A snub of this magnitude may say just as much about the widespread controversy surrounding Harry Potter's author as it does Hogwarts Legacy's gameplay.
Regardless of the reasons for the game's lack of nominations, Hogwarts Legacy sold amazingly well, topping $1 billion in sales in its first three months of release. Avalanche Software has not officially announced a sequel yet, but a followup to the wildly successful first game is almost certainly in the works.
Fans have debated whether Hogwarts Legacy is worth buying on the Switch. The Switch's portable nature makes it a much less powerful console than a PS5 or Xbox Series X, and with Hogwarts Legacy being an entirely modern game with high-quality graphics, fans had good reason to worry that its Switch version might look pretty clunky. But, following the previously mentioned leaks and the game's full release on the Switch, fans were pleasantly surprised that the game plays just fine on the portable console.
Hogwarts Legacy
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 84 /100 Critics Rec: 88%
- Released
- February 10, 2023
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Avalanche Software
- Publisher(s)
- Warner Bros. Games
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 4
- Cross-Platform Play
- Hogwarts Legacy doesn't have crossplay or crossplatform support
- Cross Save
- you can freely use your saved data between each console as long as you are connected to the internet and signed into the same account where the saved data was created
