Hogwarts Legacy free update adds new mode, enhanced visuals

Hogwarts Legacy gets a free update available today that introduces a new mode and enhanced visuals.

While the hype has seemingly died down, Hogwarts Legacy is still one of the biggest and most successful games to release in 2023. Despite a community backlash in response to J.K. Rowling's controversial comments towards the trans community, Hogwarts Legacy went on to beat the lifetime sales of Elden Ring in just five weeks.

According to SteamDB, the concurrent player numbers may have dropped significantly since its peak at launch, but that hasn't stopped the developers at Avalanche Software from releasing free DLC for the action RPG set in the Wizarding World.

The latest free DLC in question arrives via an update that adds the Arachnophobia Mode which will no doubt be a comfort to those that have a fear of eight-legged creepy crawlers. What this mode does is turn the spiders of Hogwarts into something a little less skin-crawling.The Arachnophobia Mode can be turned on in the Accessibility menu found in-game. This mode will not only change the appearance of all in-game spiders but also reduces and removes “skitters and screeches”.

What’s more, the mode will remove all small ground effect spawners and static spider corpses will be made invisible. However, collision detection will still remain on the corpses to “prevent players from getting stuck” when playing Arachnophobia Mode. As a heads-up, spider images will still remain in the Field Guide.

Furthermore, according to the Hogwarts Legacy patch notes, this latest update not only adds Arachnophobia Mode, but it makes additional improvements towards performance, graphic glitches, stability and more.

In related news, experts have warned that websites that claim to offer free downloads for Hogwarts Legacy are a front to an organised scam. In more positive news, Avalanche Software has begun work on its next game.

Hogwarts Legacy is out now for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. It will then release on 5 May for PS4 and Xbox One, followed by Nintendo Switch on 25 July.