RPG fans debate how to measure a game’s enduring success, as Hogwarts Legacy’s completion rate and player count hit a plateau six weeks after release.
In Blood (opens in a new tab), A user pointed to the drop in players for Hogwarts Legacy since its launch in early February, mocking a significant drop from the game’s peak of 880,000 concurrent users to just 75,000 players at the end of the week.
There are some major caveats to this drop; many games see their viewership drop over time, and it’s still relatively rare to see them break their original 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 in fact to this day, off peak, it remains in the top 25. The single-player experience means many players are likely to complete the game and see minimal need to return.
While that’s probably true, user AdequateEmily said the idea that people would only play a single-player game once is supported by the fact that “there’s been a big drop in achievements where less than 30% of players have even beaten the final boss”. Steam notes that only 24.9% of players earned the “Heroes of Hogwarts” achievement for completing the main story, but that’s not really the whole story.
People say “uhhh it’s a single player game, people only play it once” in replies and ignore that there is a huge drop in achievements where less than 30% of players beat the final boss. https://t.co/Zm3DgBRbAkMarch 19, 2023
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Many answers point out that games like Skyrim or The Witcher 3, two beloved RPGs, have similar stats. Only 23.7% got the “test passed” for The Witcher 3 and 31.5% got the Skyrim “Dragon Slayer” achievement (dropping to just 11.5% for the special edition). In their comparative achievements, Red Dead Redemption 2 scores 22%, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order scores 30%, and Mass Effect claims 33% in its recent Legendary Edition. Elden Ring has three final achievements, but the most accomplished of them stands at 26.6%.
Other back and forth suggests that some of these games are significantly more difficult or longer than Hogwarts Legacy, or feature much higher replayability or secondary content, allowing players to return to the games in question multiple times. Others claim that Hogwarts Legacy was aimed at a more casual audience, long known for not completing games in droves.
There’s little plot resolution, but that’s no huge surprise given the groundswell of community protests that have surrounded Hogwarts Legacy since its build-up to release. However, regardless of how well its players have stuck, it has been a huge financial success and its sales are expected to see a significant boost when its next-gen version arrives in May.
The release of Hogwarts Legacy has been the subject of criticism and debate due to JK Rowling’s public stance on gender identity, which continues to challenge inclusion at the heart of the Harry Potter community. Here is our explanation on the Hogwarts legacy controversy.