Friday, May 5th 2023

Hogwarts Legacy Sold 15 Million Copies and Made Over $1 Billion

by
GFreeman
 Discuss (40 Comments)
Hogwarts Legacy has become one of the most popular games ever released and has sold over 15 million copies, making over $1 billion in sales, which earned it a place in the company's earnings call. The numbers will keep growing as the game is launching on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One today, and the Nintendo Switch version is coming in July.

The result does not come as a big surprise considering it sold over 12 million copies and made $850 million in the first two weeks from the launch. The newest result makes it one of the best selling games of 2023, at least so far. The result also makes Hogwarts Legacy the fifth $1 billion-plus gaming franchise from WB Games, joining Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, Lego games, and DC.
During the earnings call, David Zaslav, Warner Bros Discovery CEO said that "Hogwarts Legacy has amassed more than $1 billion in retail sales and over 15 million units sold worldwide to date, and today the team is launching the game on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One platforms. This is our fifth $1 billion-plus gaming franchise alongside Mortal Kombat, Game of Thrones, our Lego games and DC, and there's lots more games coming, including Hogwarts Legacy on Switch later this year."

During the same call, JB Perrette, CEO of global streaming and games at Warner Bros. Discovery added that they expect "a much bigger install base and a fan base" with Nintendo Switch version launch in July, especially considering that Harry Potter "skews very strongly in terms of popularity."

Yesterday, Hogwarts Legacy got a pretty big patch, improving visual, performance, gameplay, and general stability, as well as bringing the new Arachnophobia Mode.
Source: Warner Bros. Discovery

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40 Comments on Hogwarts Legacy Sold 15 Million Copies and Made Over $1 Billion

#26
trsttte
cvaldesa DLC
Number one reason I didn't buy the game, I know they'll milk it and I prefer to wait for a complete cheaper package
cvaldesproposed standalone Quidditch game
There's already one and wasn't all bad for a simple arcade style game

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter:_Quidditch_World_Cup
cvaldesfilms and television shows
I don't know about that. I kind of enjoyed the Fantastic Beasts series but they were all over the place and the studio seems to be done with it (it was supposed to be 5 movies but doesn't seem to be going past the third)
cvaldesmerchandise
Every year they milk that cow and will continue to do so.
DenverYeah, it's harry potter without harry potter. XD
It's just borrowing the Hogwarts name and some bits and pieces of the lore pretty much. It clearly worked but it has little to do with the Harry Potter series other than sharing the same universe (miss controversial herself wasn't directly involved)
64KWhile I would like to agree with you, I can't. Look at all of the Publishers/Developers pushing Diversity and Inclusiveness to an exaggerated extent in games for an example. Those games are still selling very well to mainstream gamers.
Not wanting to diverge into a long discussion, but in my opinion a lot of the supposed "diversity and inclusiveness" is just doing things that otherwise they wouldn't. It's just normal, how most characters used to be white straight male is the weird one to me.

Very recently the
Horizon Forbidden West DLC
got review bombed
because there's an option to make Aloy gay or something
(haven't played it yet), so what? How is this type of outrage still a thing!?
Posted on Reply
#27
Dr. Dro
There's a prolific example of a successful ideologically motivated boycott.
sepheronxI've been meaning to pick up Terraria. Many tell me it's good
It's great! Quite a unique game. Much more than the 2D Minecraft many consider it to be. Give it a try, man. It's one of the games I wish I could play for the first time again.
Posted on Reply
#28
mama
sepheronxI've been meaning to pick up Terraria. Many tell me it's good
Off topic but it's not (good I mean).
Posted on Reply
#29
Dr. Dro
mamaOff topic but it's not (good I mean).
Well, since we went OT, I'm curious: why did you dislike it? I sunk 400h on it. Very fun, great soundtrack, interesting bosses - it's very unique if you ask me.
Posted on Reply
#30
mb194dc
Hmm have to give it a try.
Posted on Reply
#31
80251
So is WBD making more money off their gaming IP than their movies/video/streaming services at this point? Because their stock prices don't seem to be reflecting this good news.
Posted on Reply
#32
Prima.Vera
What?? Is there a Game of Thrones game out there?? And it made over 1 billion profit??
Posted on Reply
#33
mama
Dr. DroWell, since we went OT, I'm curious: why did you dislike it? I sunk 400h on it. Very fun, great soundtrack, interesting bosses - it's very unique if you ask me.
The controls are awkward and I had trouble working out what I was supposed to do (maybe I'm just simple).
Posted on Reply
#34
Dr. Dro
mamaThe controls are awkward and I had trouble working out what I was supposed to do (maybe I'm just simple).
Oh, that. Controls are indeed awkward, though you get used to them after a while. But game very much leaves you to your own devices, I must admit I looked at the wiki at all steps when I played it for the first time
Posted on Reply
#35
R-T-B
PepamamiStreisand Effect, people who hate this game does not play videogames, and created "hype" instead.
Most of the hate on these forums was because it was a really bad performing PC port and had nothing to do with other, external factors.

Maybe it's better now? I fully admit I have not personally looked.
Posted on Reply
#36
mrnagant
Man, there is so much money in hit games. $150M to produce the game. Store fees from MS, Sony, Steam and Epic (and brick and mortar stores for physical copies) are way more at roughly ~$300M which is mind boggling too. Their cost associated to to the game, they likely have well over >100x profit margins. Then $600M in the bank.

Seems pretty stellar for a single player game.

Industry needs to figure out how to get unionized and push for profit sharing. Most these guys I doubt even get bonuses. :P

Yet I'm told games need to be $70. I'll get in on the fun when it costs about $20, unless it eventually hits GPU.
Posted on Reply
#37
80251
mrnagantMan, there is so much money in hit games. $150M to produce the game. Store fees from MS, Sony, Steam and Epic (and brick and mortar stores for physical copies) are way more at roughly ~$300M which is mind boggling too. Their cost associated to to the game, they likely have well over >100x profit margins. Then $600M in the bank.

Seems pretty stellar for a single player game.

Industry needs to figure out how to get unionized and push for profit sharing. Most these guys I doubt even get bonuses. :p

Yet I'm told games need to be $70. I'll get in on the fun when it costs about $20, unless it eventually hits GPU.
Those store fees are pretty damn disgusting and steam seems just as bad as the rest now. I'm not gonna shell out 70 bones for any game -- especially considering the bug-ridden mess that new releases often are, even AAA titles.
Posted on Reply
#38
trsttte
80251Those store fees are pretty damn disgusting and steam seems just as bad as the rest now. I'm not gonna shell out 70 bones for any game -- especially considering the bug-ridden mess that new releases often are, even AAA titles.
Digital services inherited the 30% from brick and mortar and since no one tought strange early on they just rolled with it. For brick and mortar it's arguable - games don't need a lot of shelf space but still - but it makes absolutely no sense in the digital world.
mrnagantMan, there is so much money in hit games. $150M to produce the game. Store fees from MS, Sony, Steam and Epic (and brick and mortar stores for physical copies) are way more at roughly ~$300M which is mind boggling too. Their cost associated to to the game, they likely have well over >100x profit margins. Then $600M in the bank.

Seems pretty stellar for a single player game.

Industry needs to figure out how to get unionized and push for profit sharing. Most these guys I doubt even get bonuses. :p

Yet I'm told games need to be $70. I'll get in on the fun when it costs about $20, unless it eventually hits GPU.
You're missing something very important: these are risky multi year bets. The margins on success are huge, but so are the losses if things go wrong which happens often enough. Those profits also get split multiple times by the different copyright and trademark holders which is not really accounted for in the simple price to produce the game (they have to pay something up front but the big bucks always comes as a % of sales)

But hey you're not wrong, industry needs big reforms, both on the conditions game devs have but also on how publishers and trademark holders get to just make huge bank without doing anything
Posted on Reply
#39
80251
The credits list for games has also become ludicrous. For example, it's like everyone and his mother were involved in developing Metro Exodus, but I'll bet 50% of those people had nothing whatsoever to do w/the actual development of the game. I don't give a FFF about the legal team for the publisher for Metro Exodus and for them to be in the credits list for the game is ridiculous.
Posted on Reply
#40
kony
I'm always surprised how these bland copy-and-paste AAA games make so much money.
Posted on Reply
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