Whatever your feelings on J.K. Rowling or the Harry Potter franchise, it’s impossible to deny that Hogwarts Legacy has been a massive, smash hit . That’s without even launching on the previous-generation consoles, something that a surprising number of new titles still do. The release of the game on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One was supposed to happen on April 4th, but it’s been pushed back approximately a month to May 5th.
This news comes straight from the source: a tweet from the official Hogwarts Legacy Twitter account, reproduced above. Both last-gen versions of the game have been delayed, and the reason given is simply “to deliver the best possible experience on all platforms.” Frankly, it’s nice to see a game being delayed for quality reasons instead of being released broken only to be patched later
The new date for the last-gen release.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the game needs more time for polish on the last-gen consoles. At least, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who has played the PC version. While the game wasn’t in nearly so rough a state as some recent PC releases (like Forspoken or Gotham Knights), it had its share of bugs along with extremely inconsistent performance , even on grossly-overpowered hardware. The console versions fared better, so that may be why the delay is only a month.
Of course, it probably won’t look like this on the Switch.
There’s no word of a delay for the promised Switch version of the game, which is scheduled to release in May. Gamers have theorized that the version of Hogwarts Legacy for Nintendo’s handheld could be a “cloud” version, utilizing streaming technology and requiring a quality internet connection to play. That’s not impossible, but we suspect it’s more likely that the game will simply be significantly pared-back to play on Nintendo’s handheld. Unreal Engine is incredibly scalable , after all.Your author has finished the game twice already, including a 100% run, and is generally a fan of the title. While it doesn’t particularly excel in any specific area (and it frankly feels a little unfinished in parts), it’s a surprisingly high-effort action RPG with entertaining combat, charming characters, and a surprising amount of variation in the content depending on which Hogwarts house you get sorted into. You can pick it up on Steam if you’re itching for another 20-40 hour open-world action RPG.
WB Delays Hogwarts Legacy Launch On PS4 And Xbox One But The Wait Won’t Be Long
