Hogwarts Legacy release date update – launch set for February 10, 2023!

Hogwarts Legacy development began in 2017, January, so now, virtually 6 years later it is natural that people are asking wtf? Avalanche Software studio has already postponed the release once, so this time we hope there won’t be any shenanigans.

Hogwarts Legacy Release Date Confirmed for February 10, 2023!

The latest update has set the release date for the Hogwarts Legacy game for February 10, 2023. This is another delay as up until recently the game was to come out during the winter Holidays, 2022, meaning Christmas of course. This was in tune with the schedule original HP movies had, as they were all released sometime during the winter.

Development Diary

As mentioned, Avalanche Software is handling the development of the game. They are owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment after they bought it from Disney in 2017.

That same year, WB established its label Portkey Games. The name is inspired by the Portkeys used in the Harry Potter story and the label is dedicated to handling the titles from something called the Wizarding World.

JK. Rowling does not have any affiliation with the studios or their projects, which is unfortunate. Of course, no affiliations other than her books and intellectual property being used under license to create these games.

Avalanche Software started working on the game almost immediately after being acquired by WB and some footage of actual Hogwarts Legacy gameplay leaked in 2018.

Okay, it was not much, but it was enough to get the fans to go off on it, and, since then, the development process of Hogwarts Legacy has followed closely and has had some controversial moments even.

Platforms

However, in 2020 everyone’s favorite magic pandemic year, the studio came out with an official announcement about the game. In September 2020, WB announced that the game is coming to PlayStation 4, PS5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S.

That initial promise was for a 2021 release. However, in January 2021, they already postponed the release until further notice, but with hopes of 2022.

And, sure enough, in March 2022, PlayStation confirmed the Hogwarts Legacy 2022 release date in a State of Play YouTube video dedicated entirely to the game. The fans got an official first look and features showcased together with Avalanche Softworks’ insights about the game. They also revealed that the game is coming to Nintendo Switch as well.

Platforms

So, platforms for Hogwarts Legacy confirmed are:

  • PS4
  • PS5
  • PC (Microsoft Windows)
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series S/X
  • Nintendo Switch

The Troy Leavitt controversy and leaving as lead designer

As mentioned, there was a little controversial moment during the development of Hogwarts Legacy, in February 2021 mainly.

Criticism targeting social media posts made by Troy Leavitt, the lead designer of Hogwarts Legacy, and Avalanche Software as well began to spread across the web.

Now, long story short, Troy Leavitt made some YouTube videos where he argued for forgiveness, as he says, for John Lasseter, the animation lead in Skydance Animation studio, voice actor, animator, director, producer, and more.

In 2017, Lasseter acknowledged sexual misconduct allegations in the workplace and was condemned heavily shortly after in public. It is unknown if Lasseter was convicted in any court, but criticism and insider info for the alleged misconduct still springs up often on popular web outlets.

However, after Troy tried to argue that there is room to forgive Lasseter, his attempts were equally condemned. Furthermore, the public also connected him to the Gamergate harassment campaign, and soon after Troy Levitt left Hogwarts Legacy project and Avalance Software.

He claimed that his leaving the project and the company is not connected to the mentioned controversy, while WB declined any comment on the matter.

If you want to learn more in detail about it, check out the Gamergate harassment campaign, and Troy’s videos “In Praise of Cultural Appropriation” and “In Defense of John Lasseter” on his official YouTube channel.

The alleged anti-Semitic game message controversy

When the first official trailer for Hogwarts Legacy, showing gameplay footage, came out in March 2022, the game attracted criticism for alleged underlying anti-Semitic messages.

The trailer showed that the game’s narrative is set in the Goblin Rebellion era of the Wizarding World history. The player’s role was to suppress the goblin rebellion, but the lore that surrounds goblins in the Wizarding World is already often connected by the audience with anti-Semitic canards.

Now, anti-Semitic canards are reports, fabrications, or otherwise misrepresentations defamatory towards Judaism religion and its religious and ethnic group. People accused the game of promoting the attitude of condemnation of goblins for rebelling and fighting against their oppressors for equal rights and freedom.

However, many arguments were quickly made in favor of the opposing side, one of the best ones being JK. Rowling never said goblins and Judeo Christians are the same, but the audience who made the connection did.

Meanwhile, the developers promised that the character creation will have the trans-inclusive option, so go figure. The latest delay in development puts Hogwarts Legacy release date for February 10, 2022, and we do hope there are no more delays!