Harry Potter video games have had an interesting ride over the last 20 years. The first few games within the franchise are regularly stated as gamers' first experience with video games back in the PlayStation original era. The franchise died off towards the tail end of its run, however, with the final two movie tie-in games blasted for taking a “third-person shooter” aspect, rather than continuing the mysterious world that had been built with the other games.
Hogwarts Legacy was announced in September of last year to a thunderous reaction from around the world. The last official Harry Potter game we received was Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 , unless of course we're counting Harry Potter for Kinect , and the 10-year wait has kept Potter fans on their toes regarding a new release for the franchise,
A recent Twitter posting however has now informed Potter fans that they might have to wait a little while longer for a new wizarding adventure.
NEWS
Warner Bros. Games has confirmed via the official Hogwarts Legacy Twitter page that the game has now been delayed until 2022.
In the post, the developer “ thanks fans from around the world for their tremendous reaction ” to the game's announcement, and stated that “ creating the best possible experience for all of the Wizarding World ” will take more time.
WHAT THIS MEANS
While this news can only come as a disappointment to those looking forward to the release of Hogwarts Legacy , it isn't all that surprising.
Given the recent release of Cyberpunk 2077 and the backlash that has resulted, it's unsurprising that Warner Bros. Games have decided to push the release date back and give themselves more time to work on the game. The pandemic has had an effect on a number of industries, video game development being one of them, and given that the game was only announced back in September, the developer may have underestimated the time needed to develop the open-world Potter game.
News surrounding the game has also been tough to come by since its announcement, with the developer keeping tight-lipped on what the game may bring to the table. Given that a majority of the releases within the Harry Potter franchise as of now all differ massively in their gameplay style, an addition of an open-world format is not all that surprising, and something fans have been requesting for years.
Given the game has now been pushed back, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of the game will come into question. If the game is to release late 2022, this will be around 2 years after the release of the next-generation consoles, questioning the need to release the game on the older consoles. Fans can now only hope that the wait will be worth it for Hogwarts Legacy.
XBOX Writer