“With strong sales numbers, Hogwarts Legacy proves that magic continues to excite gamers.”
Since its February release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, Avalanche's Hogwarts Legacy has continued to record excellent sales. It consistently holds the top spot in the best-selling games in the U.S. nearly every month. In an interview with Variety, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment president David Haddad revealed that the game has surpassed 22 million copies sold in less than a year.
According to Haddad, Hogwarts Legacy has sold 22 million units by the end of 2023, with 2 million units sold in December alone. He says it's the best-selling game of the year "industry-wide," a title that's usually reserved for games like Call of Duty. However, Haddad emphasizes that it's not just the sales that make him happy, but also the way it has excited fans.
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Hogwarts Legacy was also the most popular game in Google for 2023. While many players may have been looking for new content, guides, and gameplay, some searches are likely related to J.K. Rowling's controversial statements about the transgender community. Warner Bros. Interactive states that Rowling had no involvement in the creation of the game, but since it is based on a world she created, she likely profited from it.
Additionally, in Variety's report, Haddad points to a statement from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslavabout the company's transition from a console and PC-only approach to an approach that includes continuous gameplay, cross-platform expansions, and free-to-play games, with the goal of engaging more players across more platforms.
Haddad told Variety that to achieve this, it is necessary to assemble “live games that are releasing new content, maintaining momentum for our mobile game services and releasing great new content.” It is important to note that it is not a real-time service game, nor does it include multiplayer elements. It is a single-player game and is the best-selling game of 2023, according to its publisher.
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However, Warner Bros. is preparing to enter the world of live-service games when Rocksteady, the developer of the Batman Arkham trilogy, releases the third-person multiplayer game Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League on February 2.
Information source: gameinformer.com
