Hogwarts Legacy Beats Zelda for 2023 Best Selling Game

Hogwarts Legacy is official the top selling game of 2023.
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Hogwarts Legacy Flying On Bird Gryphon
Image: Warner Bros. Entertainment

Warner Bros. Games’ Hogwarts Legacy has been confirmed as the best-selling game of 2023. It surpasses both Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and breaking a 15-year streak dominated by Call of Duty and Rockstar titles.

While there were early ideas and rumors that it did, it was finally confirmed by Circana. More industry insiders, like Genki, chimed in to confirm it as well. Even Warner Bros. stated that Hogwarts Legacy sold over 22 million copies by the end of December 2023, with 2 million units moving alone during the holiday season. This impressive performance placed it ahead of Tears of the Kingdom, which sold 20.28 million copies in its first year and ended the reign of Call of Duty or Rockstar games, which have occupied the top spot in the US market since 2008.

Hogwarts Legacy launched in February 2023 and offered players an immersive open-world experience within the iconic Harry Potter universe. Players could create their own witch or wizard, attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry classes, explore the surrounding areas, and engage in various magical activities. The game’s staggered release across different platforms, starting with PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC before reaching last-gen consoles and Nintendo Switch, likely contributed to its sustained sales success.

The success of Hogwarts Legacy extends beyond sales figures. Players collectively spent over 700 million hours exploring the game world, brewed over 800 million potions, and defeated nearly 5 billion dark wizards. This intense engagement highlights the game’s ability to capture the imagination and interest of fans.

Capitalizing on this momentum, Warner Bros. Games has announced several future plans related to the Harry Potter universe. A Quidditch game, the popular wizarding sport absent from Hogwarts Legacy, is currently in beta testing, while “a series of other things” are also in development. Additionally, the studio is prioritizing franchise gaming, with projects like a single-player Wonder Woman game and titles connected to the DC Universe relaunch in the works.

Obviously, Hogwarts Legacy is backed by the majorly popular Harry Potter franchise. This franchise is beloved, and the chance to enter the world is too much for many players to resist. It’s a great storyline, has amazing lore, and will likely continue to make the IP owners richer.

Jorge A. Aguilar

Jorge A. Aguilar

Jorge A. Aguilar, also known as Aggy, is the current Assigning Editor.

He started his career as an esports, influencer, and streaming writer for Sportskeeda. He then moved to GFinity Esports to cover streaming, games, guides, and news before moving to the Social team where he ended his time as the Lead of Social Content.

He also worked a writer and editor for both Pro Game Guides and Dot Esports, and as a writer for PC Invasion, Attack of the Fanboy, and Android Police. Aggy is the former Managing Editor and Operations Overseer of N4G Unlocked and a former Gaming editor for WePC.

Throughout his time in the industry, he's trained over 100 writers, written thousands of articles on multiple sites, written more reviews than he cares to count, and edited tens of thousands of articles. He has also written some games published by Tales, some books, and a comic sold to Telus International.

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