The action RPG Hogwarts Legacy (PC, PS 4/5, Xbox X/S) takes place in the universe of the popular book series Harry Potter, whose author J.K. Rowling has been criticized for her views on transgender people. Despite calls for boycotts, the game became a mega hit. We at MeinMMO are looking at how the game is doing six months later.
What was the controversy about? Criticism of the “Harry Potter” franchise and its creator, J.K. Rowling, has been ongoing for some time. The author is said to hold anti-trans views and to have reproduced racist and anti-Semitic stereotypes in her works.
As a new major game in the Harry Potter universe, Hogwarts Legacy also came under fire. A summary of the allegations has been compiled by the colleagues at GameStar.
While long-time Harry Potter fans couldn’t wait to dive into the magical wizarding world, critics called for a boycott of the game. Some websites chose not to report on Hogwarts Legacy or added information boxes to articles, like the colleagues from GamePro.
However, all of this did not hinder the success of Hogwarts Legacy; on the contrary: MeinMMO editor Schuhmann even speculated that the RPG benefited from the so-called Streisand effect and thus conquered Steam and Twitch.
Half a year after the release on February 10, interest seems to have significantly dwindled.
The state of Hogwarts Legacy in August 2023
What do the numbers look like? According to figures from SteamDB, Hogwarts Legacy reached its absolute peak of 879,308 concurrent players right at release in early February 2023. Afterwards, interest rapidly declined.
In early March, an average of only 110,155 concurrent players explored the magical world surrounding the eponymous wizarding school. In April, the RPG managed only a peak of 53,519 concurrent players, with an average of just 38,000.
On August 10, exactly six months after release, the number of concurrent players was an average of 6,800.
It has also become noticeably quieter elsewhere regarding Hogwarts Legacy. The Subreddit for the game is still quite active, but the top posts only reach a little over 100 upvotes, compared to nearly 10,000 six months ago.
In retrospect, just a 5/10?
What’s the reason? It’s generally not uncommon for interest in a game to wane after an initial hype. Particularly a story-driven game like Hogwarts Legacy struggles more to retain players long-term than a live-service title which can theoretically continue indefinitely and be expanded.
Other single-player titles like Elden Ring are also experiencing similar declines in player numbers.
Eventually, players simply are “done” and move on to the next release. After all, the gaming industry sometimes provides us with more new titles than we can play. Since developers already revealed in February that there are no plans for a DLC, players cannot look forward to new content either.
Nevertheless, the sharp decline in players for Hogwarts Legacy is striking. Reports of the drastic drops in player numbers emerged as early as March. And while players in other games keep challenging themselves with self-imposed challenges again and again, little of that is seen with Hogwarts Legacy.
It seems that the game lacks substance once you take off the rosy “Harry Potter glasses”. In a Reddit thread from May 2, 2023, players discuss whether Hogwarts Legacy deserved the enthusiastic reviews.
While players praise the beautiful world and its exploration, they criticize the story, mechanics, and the repetitive quests and battles. Taken soberly, many see the RPG more in the middle range and would rate it between 5-7 points.
How about you? Did you try Hogwarts Legacy only to quickly set it aside after initial enthusiasm? Do you still feel entertained enough for your money? What does a single-player title need to keep you engaged longer?
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