The first reports on Hogwarts Legacy‘s sales numbers have come in – and they paint a picture of what could be one of the most successful games of the year. Per Variety, after just two weeks since its February 10 release, Hogwarts Legacy has sold more than 12 million units and earned over $850 million in global sales. What’s even more shocking is that the game is so far only available on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC platforms. Its upcoming release on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on April 4, and on Nintendo Switch on July 25 will undoubtedly add to its already monumental sales numbers.
The success of Hogwarts Legacy breaks numerous records for Warner Bros. Games, including for its largest game launch ever. Additionally, the game broke Twitch’s record for most viewed single-player game at launch with 1.28 million peak concurrent viewers, and set player engagement records with 280 million hours played to date. Global franchise engagement for the Harry Potter franchise has also dramatically risen, with Wizarding World Digital seeing a 300 percent traffic increase over its regular monthly visitor average through the first ten days of February.
For comparison, Hogwarts Legacy already surpasses or matches with the sales numbers for the most popular games of 2022. Elden Ring, the 2022 Game Awards winner for Game of the Year, sold 12 million over an 18 day period, and Hogwarts Legacy has already broken God of War: Ragnarok’s lifetime sales numbers of 11 million units as of February 1, 2023.
In a press release, President of Warner Bros. Games David Haddad expressed his excitement at the game’s success:
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. Our development team at Avalanche delivered an amazing, high-quality Wizarding World experience that truly fulfills the fan fantasy of life at Hogwarts and our publishing teams have executed a globally impactful launch campaign.
Although the title has received favorable critical and user reviews, Hogwarts Legacy‘s remains embroiled in ongoing controversy due to continuing comments made by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling. Despite continuing calls for boycotting, it seems Hogwarts Legacy will have enough legs through positive word of mouth as well as general public interest to end up one of the best-performing games of 2023.