Gaming
Hogwarts Legacy Launch Sales Break 22-Year-Old Record
(CTN NEWS) – The video game adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone formerly held the record for launch sales, but Hogwarts Legacy currently outsells it by a wide margin, exceeding Elden Ring’s first-week sales.
Both open-world action-RPGs, Hogwarts Legacy and Elden Ring, came out in February of their respective years, yet it appears that, at least in one location, the Harry Potter game is easily outselling the Elden Ring game.
According to GamesIndustry.biz, which cited GfK data, physical sales of Hogwarts Legacy in the UK have broken at least one record.
This week’s GfK UK Boxed Top Ten is as follows:
| Last Week | This Week | Title |
|---|---|---|
| New Entry | 1 | Hogwarts Legacy |
| 2 | 2 | God of War Ragnarok |
| 1 | 3 | FIFA 23 |
| 4 | 4 | Mario Kart 8: Deluxe |
| 11 | 5 | Animal Crossing: New Horizons |
| 5 | 6 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 |
| 3 | 7 | Dead Space |
| 6 | 8 | Nintendo Switch Sports |
| 7 | 9 | Minecraft (Switch) |
| 18 | 10 | New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe |
According to the article, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (also known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone) set a sales record in 2001 that stood for 22 years. Hogwarts Legacy broke that record with the greatest launch of any Harry Potter video game in the UK.
Hogwarts Legacy broke the record for the biggest Harry Potter game debut and destroyed Elden Ring’s first-week sales in the UK.
When you consider how popular Elden Ring was at this time last year and the fact that the new Harry Potter game is only accessible on three platforms as opposed to Elden Ring’s five, Hogwarts Legacy’s physical sales for its first week in the UK are 80% greater than Elden Ring’s.
In contrast to Elden Ring, which debuted on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, PS4, and Xbox One, Hogwarts Legacy is now only accessible on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Hogwarts Legacy will, however, be released for PS4, Switch, and Xbox One later this year.
It’s important to note that the total number of sales for Hogwarts Legacy is probably much larger than the UK sales stats suggest.
The digital data is in. Hogwarts Legacy's opening week was 56% bigger across Europe than Elden Ring. It's the biggest game launch outside of FIFA & Call of Duty since Red Dead Redemption 2.
It backs up the theory that gamers are gravitating towards the big brands at the moment
— Christopher Dring (@Chris_Dring) February 16, 2023
The information thus far has only included physical game sales in the UK. Both the game’s digital sales and its sales elsewhere in the world are unreported.
Hogwarts Legacy is probably well on its way to being the best-selling game of the year, or at least very near to it, based on its overall opening week sales.
Even more proof is that Hogwarts Legacy was a particularly huge commercial success.
Since its pre-release, Hogwarts Legacy has dominated the Steam sales statistics. It has also shattered the record for the most-watched single-player game in Twitch history.
Yet, it is likely that specific sales figures won’t be available until the information is made available to shareholders.
Biggest Harry Potter Game Launches (GfK data)
| Position | Year | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2023 | Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros) |
| 2 | 2001 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (EA) |
| 3 | 2010 | LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1 – 4 |
| 4 | 2002 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (EA) |
| 5 | 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire |
| 6 | 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (EA) |
| 7 | 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix (EA) |
| 8 | 2010 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1 (EA) |
| 9 | 2009 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (EA) |
| 10y | 2003 | Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup |
| 11 | 2011 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 2 (EA) |
| 12 | 2016 | LEGO Harry Potter Collection (Warner Bros) |
| 13 | 2001 | LEGO Creator: Harry Potter (Focus) |
| 14 | 2012 | Harry Potter for Kinect (Warner Bros) |
| 15 | 2005 | Harry Potter Collection (EA) |
| 16 | 2004 | Harry Potter Deluxe Edition (Aspyr) |
As Hogwarts Legacy prepares to launch on PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, it has three more chances to drastically increase its sales figures.
Although unanticipated technical problems with the console’s older hardware may end up hindering that version of the game, the Hogwarts Legacy Switch port seems poised for success.
Fans of Harry Potter on the Switch will have to wait and see on that front, but in the interim, the game may very well set new sales records as more information is gathered.
Hogwarts Legacy is currently available on the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Versions for the PS4 and Xbox One will be released on April 4 and the Switch version will be available on July 25.
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