The Harry Potter series remains one of the most successful movie franchises of all time, but Warner Bros. failed to recapture that same magic with Fantastic Beasts. While their first effort was a hit, sequels that became bogged down in the Wizarding World's mythology proved to be something of a turn-off for moviegoers.
While the studio has gone back to the drawing board with the property in live-action, they've found a massive amount of success with the recently released Hogwarts Legacy video game.
We don't have sales figures quite yet, but Warner Bros. Games President David Haddad sounds very happy. "The player engagement is spectacular," he tells Variety (via SFFGazette.com). "So far, we have tracked over 152 million hours played, 173 million magical plants grown, 115 million potions brewed and 556 million Dark Wizards defeated."
Updated stats have since been shared with the trade, revealing that Hogwarts Legacy has now seen 267 million hours played, 393 million magical plants grown, 242 million potions brewed and 1.25 billion Dark Wizards defeated.
That's a lot of Chinese Chomping Cabbages!
Later in this report, it's noted that Warner Bros. views Hogwarts Legacy as a "long-term" franchise, suggesting sequels are on the way. "We are very pleased with the initial launch and see a bright future for our other platform launches," is all Haddad would add to that.
Beyond Hogwarts Legacy, the executive also commented on DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran's recent comments that the DCU will soon expand into video games.
"Our goal is to continue to utilize our amazing library of Warner Bros. Discovery franchises," Haddad said, "as we develop our future slate of games."
Despite the fact DLC doesn't appear to be on the way right now, it appears a follow-up will happen, and we'd be interested to see what form that takes given the scale of the current map and the way this first instalment explores the Wizarding World's history.
Have you been playing Hogwarts Legacy?