‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Becomes 2023’s Best-Selling Video Game, Beating Out AAA Franchises

'Hogwarts Legacy' (Image: Warner Bros.)

Within a year of release, 2023’s Hogwarts Legacy has sold over 22 million copies following its massively successful launch in February, selling two million copies in two weeks.

The game, which was developed by Avalanche Software in collaboration with Warner Bro. Games, has received praise from both gamers and Harry Potter fans alike due to its faithfulness to J. K. Rowling’s Wizarding World franchise and balanced gameplay.

This high number of sales has made the game surpass well-anticipated continuations of famous franchises like Call of Duty and Madden, with the game topping charts as being the most-sold game on Sony’s PlayStation store in North America and being the second most sold in Europe, behind EA Vancouver’s EA Sports FC 24.

Although following critically acclaimed source material, Hogwarts Legacy’s success has been notable to gamers as after over a decade, neither a Call of Duty nor a game from Rockstar was the most-sold game of the year. To some, this shows that the market is changing in interest, with players moving away from established franchises to move to new ones.

The massively successful game has not come without controversy. Many fans have complained about the lack of expansion of the game’s open-world map and technical issues relating to bugs and connection errors. The game also had controversy before release due to Rowling’s history of transphobic statements, leading some gamers to boycott the game’s release earlier last year.

In terms of critics’ responses, the game has received an average of 85% approval with multiple publications praising the game for similar reasons as fans. Although to many, the game does not add anything to the innovation of gameplay, they still found it enjoyable to play and interact with students and faculty in the fantastical school of Hogwarts.

Hogwarts Legacy was nominated in several awards shows last year, with the game winning the “Award for Excellence” at the Japan Game Awards and a Steam Award for the “Best Game on Steam Deck.”