It was clear that the new “Harry Potter” game Hogwarts Legacy would be a big deal. But how big it already is, just one day before the release on Steam and Twitch, can be seen as a surprise. The Streisand effect plays a role in this, believes our author Schuhmann. The controversy surrounding the German Twitch streamer Gronkh serves as an example.
How successful is Hogwarts Legacy? Extremely successful, that is already clear, even though the release is only on February 10 for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, the numbers are impressive even on February 9:
- On Twitch, Hogwarts Legacy peaked at 1.249 million viewers – no single-player game has ever had more concurrent viewers on Twitch. It has left Cyberpunk 2077 behind.
- According to initial unofficial numbers from Steam, the game is selling extremely well – at peak, there were 489,139 players online. This currently makes it the number 3 on Steam after the two Valve mainstays DOTA 2 and CS:GO (via steamdb). For a full-price title, this is a remarkable achievement.
3 Points in favor of the success of Hogwarts Legacy – 3 against it
Was this success to be expected? There were 3 points that spoke for the success even before the release:
- Harry Potter is the eighth largest media brand in the world with 32 billion US dollars in revenue, ahead of Call of Duty and Transformers, and only slightly behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- The supply of AAA games is extremely depleted due to the corona pandemic, countless delays, and difficulties that studios faced, with hardly any major games released since last year and Elden Ring.
- Thirdly, a lot of capital is backing the game with Warner Bros. Games; everywhere one sees advertising for the title.
However, it was not at all certain that Hogwarts Legacy would become a hit as it is now emerging. The game had a terrible press from the beginning. On the way to release, everything that could go wrong, went wrong:
- The game got discredited back in February 2021 because the lead designer of the game, Troy Levitt, had ties to Gamergate. The large forum ResetEra decided to boycott the game back then.
- Furthermore, the studio “Avalanche Software” is relatively unknown. They had developed “Disney Infinity” – that was not a guarantee that a huge game would come out of it. Especially since many video games from major franchises disappointed at release.
- In recent months, there have been repeated calls to not play Hogwarts Legacy and to boycott it in order to clearly distance oneself from the Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and not give her more money. The British author has fallen out of favor in parts of the trans community.
During the “hype phase” of the game, it almost felt like the developers had to justify their decision to develop Hogwarts Legacy. They were constantly confronted with accusations, facing backlash because of J.K. Rowling (via ign.com)
Actors even apologized for having participated in Hogwarts Legacy (via gamesradar).
That Hogwarts Legacy would become a hit like this was by no means a sure thing. Other games in the Harry Potter universe have failed. The Pokémon GO clone “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite” was shut down early.
“The whole action has done more advertising for the game than I could have ever hoped to do”
What is the Streisand effect and how has it benefited Hogwarts Legacy? The Streisand effect is named after Barbara Streisand. It describes a state where the attempt to suppress information leads to the spread of that information.
Streisand sued a photographer in 2003 for $50 million because he published aerial shots of her house. Before the lawsuit, hardly anyone knew about these shots. After the lawsuit, the photo spread like wildfire on the internet.
Because activists on the internet were trying to boycott Hogwarts Legacy to reduce the advertising impact for Hogwarts Legacy, the game has received much more “free PR” in recent days and weeks than even the most clever advertising campaign could have achieved.
Just in Germany, the controversy surrounding the Twitch streamer Gronkh led to Hogwarts Legacy being prominently featured on the front page of one of the country’s largest media portals, BILD, for several hours just before the release.
This kind of attention in the mainstream press is something that Warner Bros. couldn’t have achieved with even the most money. It is a level of attention that is usually reserved only for the biggest, established gaming brands like Grand Theft Auto or masterpieces like Red Dead Redemption 2.
Hogwarts Legacy is today the probably most relevant game since Elden Ring. The boycott campaign has rather contributed to the success, as one must conclude.
In Germany, Gronkh handled the accusations he faced commendably. He engaged with his critics, acknowledged his own mistakes, and sought reconciliation. The major content creators in the USA, however, reacted with misunderstanding and anger to the demand not to show Hogwarts Legacy:
Hogwarts Legacy: Boycott callers leave streamer in despair – 2 Twitch stars react brutally
