'Hogwarts Legacy' is set for release on February 10th
Last weekend saw 'Hogwarts Legacy' top the charts on Steam, just over a month before its February 10th release.
The game is looking likely to be one of the biggest in franchise history, and steps away from the books and movies allowing the player to create their own story in the Harry Potter universe.
Developed by Avalanche software, it is their biggest release to date which has led to scepticism from many gamers due to the size, ambition and depth of the game. Players will be able to fully customize their characters, including face shape, hair style and colour, 20 shades of skin colour, and a whole range of different styles of glasses.
Once created, the player will attend classes in the prestigious Hogwarts school of wizardry, explore the Forbidden Forest, go shopping in Diagon Alley, and get some much-needed R&R in Hogsmeade. Thanks to your trusty (customisable and upgradable) broomstick characters can even leave Hogwarts grounds to travel around the Scottish Highlands.
While all of this makes the game sound very enticing, some gamers are worried that it all sounds too good to be true, particularly from an un-proven studio like Avalanche.
Recent years have seen numerous failed releases of triple-A games like 'Cyberpunk 2077', 'Battlefield 2042', and 'No Mans Sky' to name a few. These games have all been fixed post-release to relatively good working condition, often adding extra content and features that were missing from the games at release, but their initial failure has led many to boycott pre-purchases of new games, instead waiting until weeks, or months, until reviews are out and people have a better understanding of the state of the game.
Adding to this is the J.K. Rowling controversy, leading other fans of the franchise to boycott the newest entry. Rowling hasn’t been directly involved but the Avalanche dev team have worked closely with her team throughout development, and she stands to earn royalties from sales which could amount to millions.
Despite Avalanche's lack of triple-A history, general concern around pre-purchases, and the J.K. Rowling controversy/boycott, 'Hogwarts Legacy' has beaten the likes of 'Call of Duty', 'FIFA', and 'High on Life' (from the creators of Rick and Morty) to become the highest selling game on Steam this week, showing that the franchise still has incredible selling power, 26 years after the first book was released.