‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Reportedly Sold 256% Over Target For Warner Bros. Games
Ryan Pearson
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Hogwarts Legacy reportedly sold over double what Warner Bros. Games expected, specifically 256% above their projections.
Two students look out onto a cliff amid ruins, covered in plant-life and flocked by multi-colored birds Hogwarts Legacy (2022), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
The figures come via Arien Darby, Warner Bros. Games’ Senior Brand and Marketing Manager. Specifically, Twitter user @bogorad222 noted, “Hogwarts Legacy Achieved 256% to plan sell-thru at launch. Sales figures and revenue are known.”
They show a screenshot of Darby’s LinkedIn profile, and the About section’s “Selected Achievements” include “Hogwarts Legacy (2023): Achieved 256% to play sell-thru at launch and exceeded 12M units in sales in first two weeks earning $850M+.
He also reportedly noted the game had 1.8 billion impressions, and a record 1.3 million concurrent Twitch viewers, the most for a single player game.
Bogorad222 notes that Arien Darby shared sales and other achievements for Hogwarts Legacy via Twitter
It should be noted at this time of writing, Darby’s LinkedIn profile gives far less insight into the game. “Hogwarts Legacy (2023): sell-thru exceeded 12M units in sales, and broke all-time Twitch record for most peak concurrent viewers ever for a single player game with 1.3M views.”
Arien Darb’s About section, detailing his work and games he has worked on via LinkedIn
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Nonetheless, @bogorad222’s screenshot appears genuine, as outlets such as Forbes reported on the earlier contents of Darby’s LinkedIn profile. GamesIndustry.biz reported that UK video game sales in Q1 2023 were 1% higher than in Q1 2022. While the latter featured Elden Ring, Horizon: Forbidden West, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the success of Q1 2023 was “driven” by Hogwarts Legacy.
Paul Tassi of Forbes notes that having achieved 12 million sales in two weeks, he imagines only Diablo IV might have a chance of beating that record or its sales this year. A hypothetical new Call of Duty may also surpass Hogwarts Legacy in sales within 2023.
Nonetheless, while Tassi doubts the game will win many Game of the Year awards (“if any”), he felt it had become a new video game franchise for Warner Bros. He speculated the previous insistence the game would have no DLC could be changed in light of this news. If there is not any DLC one expects there will be a sequel.
Sirona Ryan defends the player and Sebastian Sallow via Hogwarts Legacy (2023), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
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The impressive performance happened despite or perhaps because of attempts to boycott the game. Some had objected to comments by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling in 2020, over biological sex being real and attempts to avoid offending transgender people denied the female identity.
Those offended had attempted to boycott her works, or works inspired by them. Attempts at tarring Hogwarts Legacy were constant, including attempting to rekindle false claims of antisemitism (as Harry Potter itself was accused of) or accusing one of the game’s voice actors of being transphobic.
A student pulls a baby mandrake from its pot, cause it to unleash a devastating scream via Hogwarts Legacy (2022), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
The most blatant attempt was the harassment of anyone streaming the game. A website to catalog who played the game was even made and it received approval from a self-described transgender Montana legislator.
The boycott undoubtedly failed, as the game made $850 million in gross revenue in less than two weeks– that’s more than Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s entire theatrical run. Even a TV show based on the game is rumored to be in development at HBO Max.
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