Hogwarts Legacy Sold 256% Higher Than WB’s Expectations

According to the LinkedIn bio of Warner Bros Games’ Senior Marketing Manager, Arien Darby, Hogwarts Legacy ended up selling over 256% higher than the publisher’s expectations. The game reportedly 12 million units sold within its first week, earning 850 million dollars at launch week.

Further details also include the game’s numbers on Twitch. Hogwarts Legacy broke the all-time Twitch record for most peak concurrent viewers for a single-player game at 1.3 million views. Since its launch, the game has emerged as one of the most commercially successful titles of the year so far, surpassing the likes of even last year’s major hit, Elden Ring. 

Taking that into account, Hogwarts Legacy has quickly become WB’s fastest-selling title to date. Early last month, the developers of Hogwarts Legacy posted stats regarding the game on their Twitter. According to this, players have spent over 406 million hours playing Hogwarts Legacy. The game has even found plenty of success on the Steam Deck, being the most-played title on the Steam Deck for March. 

According to many, part of the game’s success can be attributed to the IP’s massive popularity and an unfortunate boycott that contributed to the game’s overwhelming success. The game was a target of a long-running boycott due to the views shared by the author of the Harry Potter franchise, J.K Rowling, regarding the trans community. 

The game launched to critical acclaim from both players and critics over its stunning recreation of the world of Harry Potter but has been criticized for its formulaic open-world design, generic RPG elements, poor storytelling, and choppy performance on PC.