On the heels of Warner Bros. Games releasing “Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions” Tuesday, Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief financial officer has confirmed that a more direct sequel to 2023’s hit Wizarding World game “Hogwarts Legacy” is a goal for the team moving forward.
“Obviously, a successor to ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ is one of the biggest priorities in a couple of years down the road,” WBD CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels said during an interview at Bank of America’s 2024 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference Wednesday. “So there is certainly a significant growth contribution from that [games] business in our strategic outlook here.”
Despite the success of “Hogwarts Legacy” last year, Warner Bros. Discovery’s games division has had a tough time living up to those same expectations in 2024. Wiedenfels noted that the studio’s most recent big release, “Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League,” was a “miss,” the games business continues to be a
“strategic asset” for the overall company.
While “Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions” is Warner Bros.’ first game release based on the popular J.K. Rowling IP since “Hogwarts Legacy” debuted in February 2023, it does not connect to the storyline in the previous game, which followed all new characters at the iconic wizarding school many years before Harry and his friends attended. Instead, this new title is focused on playing Quidditch — a gameplay feature fans were disappointed wasn’t included in “Hogwarts Legacy” — and features the original Harry Potter characters, including Harry himself, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy and more as they participate in events surrounding the Wizarding World’s favorite sport.
“Hogwarts Legacy” crossed 22 million copies sold by the end of 2023, with approximately 2 million of those units selling during the December holiday season, according to Warner Bros. Games.
From the Avalanche Studio-produced game’s Feb. 10 launch through Dec. 31, the Harry Potter universe AAA game (a higher-budget title with more production value than your average game), the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned game publisher said “Hogwarts Legacy” racked up 707 million hours played.
In an interview with Variety in January, Warner Bros. Games chief David Haddad said “many” fans have gone back and played the game through more than once, choosing a different Hogwarts house to be sorted into for a different storyline experience.