Warner Bros. Games Sets Global Record with Hogwarts Legacy Launch

Warner^[0] Games has announced that Hogwarts Legacy, the latest video game from the Harry Potter franchise, has become the biggest global launch ever for the company.^[1] The game sold 12 million copies and earned $850 million in sales in its first two weeks across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.^[2]

To date, the game has set company records for player engagement, with a total of 280 million hours played.^[3] “We are so thrilled and proud to see the player response to Hogwarts Legacy from gamers, fans who are new to gaming and reviewers around the world,” said David Haddad, President, Warner^{[4][0] [5]} The Avalanche development team created an incredible, top-notch Wizarding World experience that truly brings to life the fantasy of life at Hogwarts. Furthermore, our publishing teams have successfully carried out a globally significant launch campaign.^[6]

The game also saw an increase in global franchise fan engagement with Wizarding World Digital garnering 300% higher traffic over the normal monthly unique visitor average for the first 10 days of February.^[0] Furthermore, Hogwarts Legacy broke the Twitch record for the most-watched single-player game on the platform.^[7] Shortly after breaking the record, it became the biggest WB Games title on Steam, peaking at 489,139 concurrent players.^[8]

However, despite its tremendous success, physical sales for Hogwarts Legacy have taken a shocking decline during its second week on the market.^[9] The game saw a drop of 66% during its second week in the United Kingdom. Despite experiencing a decrease in popularity, Hogwarts Legacy has maintained its status as the top game in the UK as of this writing.^[9]

Despite forecasts falling short in the face of the unstoppable success of the Warner Bros title, the game is still the most purchased game on Steam for the second week in a row.^[10] We knew that Hogwarts Legacy was going to be a sales success thanks to the number of reservations and wishlist it had on Steam, and its success has certainly exceeded expectations.^[10]

0. “‘Hogwarts Legacy' Earns $850M USD, Over 12 Million Units” HYPEBEAST, 24 Feb. 2023, https://hypebeast.com/2023/2/hogwarts-legacy-earns-850-million-usd-first-two-weeks

1. “‘Hogwarts Legacy’ DLC, Sequel Should Be Guaranteed With These Sales Numbers” Forbes, 24 Feb. 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/02/24/hogwarts-legacy-dlc-sequel-should-be-guaranteed-with-these-sales-numbers/

2. “Hogwarts Legacy is Warner Bros. Games' biggest global launch ever” Gamesradar, 23 Feb. 2023, https://www.gamesradar.com/hogwarts-legacy-is-warner-bros-games-biggest-global-launch-ever

3. “‘Hogwarts Legacy' game has earned $850 million in sales so far despite calls to ban it” National Post, 24 Feb. 2023, https://nationalpost.com/news/hogwarts-legacy-j-k-rowling-controversy

4. “Hogwarts Legacy Marks Warner Bros. Games' Biggest Launch Of All Time” SVG, 24 Feb. 2023, https://www.svg.com/1209836/hogwarts-legacy-marks-warner-bros-games-biggest-launch-of-all-time/

5. “Hogwarts Legacy's Sales Figures Tell A Pretty Clear Story” Den of Geek, 23 Feb. 2023, https://www.denofgeek.com/games/hogwarts-legacys-sales-numbers-records-revenue

6. “Hogwarts Legacy sales ‘hit 12 million copies and $850 million' in two weeks | VGC” Video Games Chronicle, 24 Feb. 2023, https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/hogwarts-legacy-sales-hit-12-million-copies-and-850-million-in-two-weeks/

7. “Hogwarts Legacy, biggest game release in a while despite ‘controversies'” Technology Zimbabwe, 23 Feb. 2023, https://www.techzim.co.zw/2023/02/hogwarts-legacy-biggest-game-release-in-a-while-despite-controversies/

8. “Hogwarts Legacy sells 12M copies and earns $850M in just two weeks despite boycott attempt” Dexerto, 23 Feb. 2023, https://www.dexerto.com/hogwarts-legacy/hogwarts-legacy-sells-12m-copies-and-earns-850m-in-just-two-weeks-despite-boycott-attempt-2069921

9. “Hogwarts Legacy Physical Sales Suffer Big Drop in Second Week, But It's Still Topping the Charts” GameRant, 20 Feb. 2023, https://gamerant.com/hogwarts-legacy-physical-sales-drop-uk-charts

10. “From Wizardry to Wild Hearts: Hogwarts Legacy Triumphs Over All on Steam!” Softonic EN, 20 Feb. 2023, https://en.softonic.com/articles/hogwarts-legacy-razes-steam-wild-hearts