Hogwarts Legacy 2 cancellation fears sparked following Warner Bros. announcement

We’re mere days away from the launch of Hogwarts Legacy on Nintendo Switch but for many fans, the game is old news. They’re itching for an update on a potential sequel or expansion.

Don’t forget that Hogwarts Legacy originally launched on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S back in February, followed by the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launch in May. Some players have even completed four playthroughs, reaching 100% completion for Gryffindor, Skytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. Don’t forget that each house has its own unique quest. Hint: choose Hufflepuff if you want to travel to Azkaban, but I digress. Beyond the upcoming Nintendo Switch release - which looks surprisingly good - it’s expected that there will be a Hogwarts Legacy 2 given the game’s immense commercial success. After a recent Warner Bros. announcement though, fans aren’t quite as confident about that as they once were.

Enjoy a tour of Hogwarts’ four house common rooms in Hogwarts Legacy below.

In a recent earnings call, Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav explained that the company plans to transform its biggest gaming franchises into live-service games. Examples include Harry Potter, Batman, and Game of Thrones. Zaslav explained, “Our focus is on transforming our biggest franchises from largely console and PC based with three-four year release schedules to include more always on gameplay through live services, multiplatform and free-to-play extensions, with the goal to have more players spending more time on more platforms."

He added, "Ultimately we want to drive engagement and monetisation of longer cycles and at higher levels. We are currently under scale and see significant opportunity to generate greater post purchase revenue." We’ve seen this happen over at Rocksteady, with the studio moving from the excellent Arkham franchise to Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, an upcoming live-sevrice game delayed after generating a negative response at a State of Play event in early 2023.

Hogwarts Legacy is clearly not a live-service game, prompting fans to worry that a sequel might be cancelled in favour of something potentially inferior. Reddit user Heizerux wrote, “We may not be getting Hogwarts Legacy 2 as WB CEO will focus on free-to-play games from now on.” MellieWasa responded, “A reason why [a] lot of modern game companies suck.”

“I’m sure they will make exceptions for their most profitable products. Hogwarts Legacy made 1.3 billion. Likely the shareholders will push for a sequel,” said Drafgo, while Nagu360 added, “I wouldn’t worry. Zaslav knows Suicide Squad is going to flop and investors are gonna rebel after Legacy sold tens of millions.”

With a different view, Jart618 commented, “I think for Hogwarts Legacy’s sake, they’ll just make it live-service which I wouldn’t mind. I definitely fell trap to the Assassin's Creed ‘look at this cool skin and mount [for] only $10,’ gimmick but I think Hogwarts Legacy as a series could improve by adding seasonal events, so around Halloween, there's specific challenges you can complete.” Not a bad thought. We’ll be keeping an eye on all further Hogwarts Legacy developments.