The Harry Potter universe is taking on new life. Hogwarts Legacy, the new open-world video game from Avalanche and Warner Bros. Discovery, parent company of CNN will be released this Friday (10), with great anticipation.
The game, made for one player, took five years to make – experts estimate a budget of US$ 150 million (R$ 790 million). It has already broken a record on the Twitch live streaming platform for being the game single player most watched, being broadcast by streamers who got it in advance.
Plus, it’s the #1 pre-order this week on the Steam gaming platform.
“Open-world style games are really big business in the games industry,” said Joost van Dreunen, adjunct professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and former CEO of the gaming market research firm Super Data Research.
“Expectations are quite high not only from consumers but also from game creators themselves,” he pointed out.
Warner Bros. has 20 years of experience releasing Harry Potter video games – but those were based on the movies. Not every game was a box office success, despite the franchise’s fan community.
Hogwarts Legacy is based on Harry Potter, but takes place in the late 1800s, well before the period depicted in the books, and opens up the franchise’s universe beyond Hogwarts Castle.
Players are avatars of witches or wizards who complete quests to gain abilities like flying on a broomstick.
“They’ve definitely released some great titles and worked with some great franchises, but their games have been hit and miss,” said Dan Martin, V General Manager.ideogamesnewyork about Warner Bros games.
The video game’s release was delayed twice – building to fan excitement, but then failing. A videogamesnewyorka New York City store that sells modern and retro video games, is ordering just enough games for its store based on pre-orders.
“We are not asking for more or less. Just because we don’t know what to expect,” Martin said.
Controversy
Part of the anticipation for the game is based on the controversy surrounding Harry Potter creator JK Rowling. The author has repeatedly made anti-trans comments, and some of the actors in the films have spoken out against them. Some players are also boycotting Hogwarts Legacy because of the controversy.
“It’s not a commercial risk as much as a cultural risk,” van Dreunen stressed of the game’s release.
The game features a transgender character, a first for the franchise. While Hogwarts Legacy character Sirona Ryan doesn’t explicitly say she’s trans, dialogue in one scene hints at it: “[Eles] it took them a second to realize that I was really a witch, not a wizard,” says the character.
Warner Bros. Discovery stated that creating diverse characters was a high priority to reach all people who play the games, including the LGBTQIA+ community.
The company says that JK Rowling is not involved in the Hogwarts Legacy game, but she can still make licensing royalties.
Some fans have turned away from the franchise because of Rowling’s comments, others say they won’t let it get in the way of experiencing a new world of Harry Potter.
“There was a moment where I thought this would impact my view of the whole Harry Potter world, but I manage to separate the JK Rowling situation from the Harry Potter world,” pointed out Camila Rodrigues, a fan who says she plans to buy the game.
Despite the controversy, gaming pundits are anticipating a wildly successful release – easily selling 10 million copies, according to some estimates. In a way, the game is a rebranding opportunity for the franchise.
“Maybe there’s room to develop something new, to replicate the existing relationship with your fan base. Maybe going into this big production video game allows the franchise to kind of save itself a little bit of the drag that it’s experiencing culturally,” van Dreunen said.
Source: CNN Brasil

I’m Robert Neff, a professional writer and editor. I specialize in the entertainment section, providing up-to-date coverage on the latest developments in film, television and music. My work has been featured on World Stock Market and other prominent publications.