Role-playing game fans are debating how to measure the game’s sustained success, as Hogwarts Legacy’s “completion” rate and player count stalled six weeks after release.
On Twitter (will open in a new tab)one user noted the drop in Hogwarts Legacy player numbers since its launch in early February, poking fun at the massive drop in player numbers from a peak of 880,000 concurrent users to just 75,000 players late last week.
There are several significant caveats about this fall; many games see their audience drop over time, and it’s still relatively rare to see them overcome their initial peaks outside of that launch window; a player count of 75,000 would also make Hogwarts Legacy one of the biggest games on Steam, and indeed, at the time of writing, far beyond peak hours, it remains in the top 25. For many players in the first place, its status as a fully single-player experience means that many players will likely finish the game and see little need to return.
While this is most likely true, user AdequateEmily said that the idea that people would only play a single-player game once is supported by the fact that “there was a huge drop in achievements where less than 30% of the players even won.” final boss.” Steam notes that only 24.9% of players have earned the “Hero of Hogwarts” achievement for completing the main story, but that’s not all.
In the replies, people say “Uh, it’s a single player game, people only play it once” in the replies and ignore the huge drop in achievements when less than 30% of the players even beat the final boss. https://t.co/Zm3DgBRbAkMarch 19, 2023
Many of the answers point out that games like Skyrim or The Witcher 3 – two of my favorite RPGs – boast similar characteristics. Only 23.7% earned “Test Passed” for The Witcher 3, while 31.5% earned the Skyrim “Dragon Slayer” achievement (dropping to 11.5% for the Special Edition). In terms of their comparative performance, Red Dead Redemption 2 scored 22%, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order boasted 30%, and Mass Effect claimed 33% in their recent Legendary Edition. There are three final achievements in Elden Ring, but the most successful of them is 26.6%.
Further back and forth it is suggested that some of these games are significantly harder or longer than Hogwarts Legacy, or boast significantly more replay value or spin-off content, allowing players to return to the games in question multiple times. Others argue that Hogwarts Legacy was meant for a more casual audience that has long been known for not completing games en masse.
There’s little resolution to the dispute, but that’s not surprising given the flood of community outcry that has surrounded Hogwarts Legacy since it was prepped for release. However, no matter how delayed its players have been, it has been a huge financial success and its sales are likely to rise significantly when the latest generation version arrives in May.
The release of Hogwarts Legacy has been the subject of criticism and controversy due to JK Rowling’s public stance on gender identity, which continues to challenge the inclusivity that is at the heart of the Harry Potter community. Here is our explainer on Hogwarts legacy controversy.
