Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. has pulled the plug on one of its biggest titles, with the acclaimed video game developer confirming that its long-awaited plans to continue the story of Hogwarts Legacy have been banished to the Chamber of Secrets…for now.
There were loud calls against the magical adventure before its release due to the divisive views of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and while developer Avalanche Software tried to distance itself from her involvement, there was a vocal campaign to boycott the title. Still, Hogwarts Legacy took flight and cast a spell over gamers around the world as it delivered an adventure some 100 years before the Boy Who Lived stepped through those hallowed halls.
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Selling over 34 million copies and earning over $1 billion in revenue, Hogwarts Legacy was a certified hit that seemingly secured the future of the Wizard World’s gaming sphere. Although never officially announced, there was much chatter about a Hogwarts Legacy expansion. As it became the biggest game in the USA in 2023, it seemed that flogging more Hogwarts Legacy content should've been an easy sell. Unfortunately, the months rolled on and there was no sign of a mythical DLC, players began to worry that we'd never get one.
Now, Bloomberg confirms that the publisher won't be returning to the famed school of witchcraft and wizardry for an expansion. The expansion was supposed to add brand-new storylines (and presumably new areas to explore) to the game, planned to be re-released alongside the main campaign as a 'Definitive Edition' in 2025. A spokesperson for Warner Bros. refused to comment, although it's said that the plans were scrapped due to mounting concerns that the mass of content produced wouldn't justify the price tag of making it.
Avalanche was reportedly working with Rocksteady Studios to produce the expansion, with the latter known for its acclaimed Arkham games and maligned Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
This is the latest blow for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., which is still reeling from the reported $200 million hit from Kill the Justice League's flop. In the aftermath, it faced another disappointment with WB Games' Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions failing to soar, and then the cancelation of the long-awaited Wonder Woman game.
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There are some serious concerns about what's going on in Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.'s gaming arm right now, with Wonder Woman's ax also leading to the shuttering of the beloved Monolith Productions developer.
Alongside the closure of Monolith, Player First Games and Warner Bros. Games San Diego were also closed in a decision that was described as a "strategic change in direction."
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Equally, there was plenty of uproar over on Reddit, with one angry gamer writing: "I don't understand why they're not pouring more money into this. It's an obvious success, they should be churning out HP content left and right. It's like they hate money."
Another added: "If they'd been putting even an ounce of effort into that expansion, they would've found a way to squeeze the living soul out of it.."
A third said: "They should just sell this property to another publisher that knows what to do with it."
There could be more to the story, as while a Hogwarts Legacy expansion is no more, it's unclear what's going on with the supposed full-blown sequel. A November 2024 report from Variety outlined how a Hogwarts Legacy sequel was a 'top priority' for Warner Bros., with storylines supposedly tying into the upcoming live-action reboot TV series for HBO.
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Remembering that Hogwarts Legacy is now one of the best-selling games of all time, it still feels like a no-brainer for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. to power forward with its plans for a sequel.
If anything, the wait will probably just hype fans further.