Hogwarts Legacy drops surprise free DLC 3 years on from launch

It’s September 1, and Back To Hogwarts is set to get underway very soon.

Every year, Harry Potter fans mark the day that students would have returned to the fictional Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The highlight of Back To Hogwarts is the aptly titled Back To Hogwarts Showcase where announcements are made concerning upcoming Wizarding World projects.

The event is to be held today, September 1, at 5pm BST / 9am PT / 12pm ET with many hoping for a long-awaited sequel reveal for Hogwarts Legacy.

At the very least, we’re definitely going to get a new look at HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series which is already in the midst of filming its second season.

It looks as if another surprise may have surfaced a little earlier than planned.

Hogwarts Legacy has dropped free cosmetic DLC three years on from launch that was previously an exclusive Amazon order bonus.

Reddit user lostboyy21 was the first to make the discovery, taking to the site to say, “[The] Astronomer’s Hat is available for free now.”

“I just went on the game on my PS5 and saw a free DLC released today - Astronomer’s Hat. I think it was previously only available to people who got the game via Amazon or something so it’s nice we can all get it now, and at no extra cost.”

It’s true that the DLC is now freely available via the PlayStation Store, Epic Games Store, Nintendo eShop, and Xbox Store.

Simply search Hogwarts Legacy: Astronomer’s Hat and click download to claim.

Warner Bros. Games

There’s not exactly much to this DLC. It quite literally only includes the hat which is purple with a neat gold star design.

Still, if you’re in the midst of playing Hogwarts Legacy, you might want to plonk it on your head.

If you’ve long been done with the game, this probably isn’t the news you were hoping for.

READ MORE: Harry Potter star Rupert Grint officially set to return to franchise as Ron Weasley

Hogwarts Legacy’s sequel is a maximum of two years away

Here’s to hoping it’s not all we’ll hear of Hogwarts Legacy within the imminent event, although it’s perhaps safer to assume that may be the case.

The reveal of Hogwarts Legacy 2 would be huge - and admittedly perhaps something that Warner Bros. Games would rather display at a gaming-centric showcase, but you never know.

There is a PlayStation State of Play right around the corner on September 3. Don’t forget that Hogwarts Legacy launched with PlayStation-exclusive content and was formerly revealed in a State of Play.

Despite Hogwarts Legacy 2 having not been announced, we know that it’s coming in either 2027 or 2028, so a reveal does need to happen soon.

This intel came courtesy of Warner Bros. Games CEO JB Perrette, who said that the company will “return to some of our biggest franchises” in 2027 and 2028.

DC, Game of Thrones, and Mortal Kombat are among those franchises, but Hogwarts Legacy is the most profitable IP in recent memory.

I wish I could say that the free Astronomer’s Hat DLC will keep us busy until we know more, but it most definitely won’t.

Still, fans seem pretty pleased. “That’s awesome, thanks! Happy Back To Hogwarts day,” one remarked on Reddit.

Let’s see what the rest of the day has in store.