At the start of 2024, Warner Bros. went on its own little victory lap over the success of Hogwarts Legacy. WB Interactive Entertainment president David Hassad announced in early January the game had sold over 22 million copies in 2023, more than 2 million of those in the festive period, boasting that this made it "the best-selling game of the year in the entire industry worldwide."
This is not surprising. Regardless of any controversies around its creator J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the wider Wizarding World is among the biggest media franchises on the planet, and has made more money than things like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Call of Duty. Hogwarts Legacy wasn't the first Potter game, but previously the titles had been movie tie-ins, Lego versions of same, puzzle games and mobile titles: this was the first standalone big-budget game set in that universe, and a big audience had been waiting a long time for such a treatment.
