Hogwarts Legacy
Set in the wizarding world of the Harry Potter books, this open-world action RPG puts you in the shoes of a student who starts at Hogwarts in the fifth year, in the late 1800s. Your character can see and use Ancient Magic, something almost nobody else can, and the whole story is built around that.
Between main quests you go to classes, pick up new spells, brew potions, grow plants and take care of magical beasts. Outside the castle there’s Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest and a big stretch of Highlands to explore. Avalanche Software developed the game and Warner Bros. Games published it under the Portkey Games label. It launched on February 10, 2023 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. PS4 and Xbox One got it in May 2023, Nintendo Switch in November 2023 and Nintendo Switch 2 in June 2025.
Top 3 Reasons to Play
- The castle. Hogwarts is the biggest location in the game, and it’s packed: moving staircases, secret passages, talking portraits, common rooms and puzzles tucked into almost every corridor. Some doors won’t open until you solve a number-and-symbol riddle. Bells, moth paintings and braziers hide their own rewards.
- Combos in combat. Levioso lifts an enemy, Accio pulls them in, and Confringo or a thrown barrel finishes them off. Chains like this are what every fight is built on. With practice the combo counter climbs past 100 (there’s an achievement for it).
- The Room of Requirement. It opens as an empty hall. Over time you fill it with potting tables and potion stations, change the decor, and add Vivariums where rescued beasts live, breed and drop the materials you’ll need for gear upgrades.
Story and Lore
The trip to school didn't go according to plan. A dragon attacks your carriage, and you and Professor Eleazar Fig escape by Portkey into a Gringotts vault. That’s where your ability first shows itself.
Ranrok, a goblin leading a rebellion against wizards, wants Ancient Magic for himself. He’s working with Victor Rookwood, who runs a gang of dark wizards called the Ashwinders.
The trail leads to four Hogwarts professors from an earlier era, known as the Keepers: Percival Rackham, Charles Rookwood, San Bakar and Niamh Fitzgerald. Each Keeper’s portrait sets you a trial, and each trial opens a Pensieve memory about Isidora Morganach. She tried to use Ancient Magic to take away other people’s pain, and it went badly wrong. At the end, you decide what happens to the power.
Gameplay and Mechanics
Combat and spells
You equip spells in sets of four. With the right talents you can carry up to four sets and switch between them mid-fight. Spells come in three color-coded categories, and some enemies put up shields that only break to the matching color.
- Control (yellow): Levioso, Arresto Momentum, Glacius, Transformation
- Force (purple): Accio, Depulso, Descendo, Flipendo
- Damage (red): Incendio, Confringo, Bombarda, Diffindo
Protego blocks attacks and lets you counter with Stupefy. Attacks flagged in red can’t be blocked, and you have to dodge those. Once the Ancient Magic meter fills, you can trigger a finisher. If you’d rather avoid a fight, the Disillusionment charm keeps you hidden and one talent turns Petrificus Totalus into a silent takedown. Edurus and Maxima potions raise your defense and power, and you can throw Mandrakes, Chinese Chomping Cabbages and Venomous Tentacula at enemies.
Progression and gear
- Max level is 40. Talent points go into five trees: Spells, Dark Arts, Core, Stealth and Room of Requirement. The June 2024 update added the option to reset them.
- Gear has stats, and you upgrade it and add traits at the Enchanted Loom.
- Inventory space is tight at the start. The 95 Merlin Trials around the map are how you earn more gear slots.
- Difficulty options: Story, Easy, Normal and Hard.
Exploration and traversal
The Highlands are split into regions such as Hogsmeade Valley, Feldcroft, Poidsear Coast and Manor Cape, with villages, bandit camps, caves and ruins in between. You get a broom after your first Flying class, the Highwing hippogriff also flies, and Floo Flames work as fast travel. Collectibles include Field Guide pages, Daedalian Keys and Demiguise statues. You need the statues to upgrade Alohomora.
A few smaller additions are worth knowing about. Arachnophobia mode changes how spiders look, Photo Mode arrived in the same update as talent resets, and on PC the official Creator Kit has supported mods since January 2025.
Characters and Factions
Each of these classmates has a questline of their own.
- Sebastian Sallow (Slytherin) is drawn to the Dark Arts and wants to cure his sister Anne’s curse. You learn all three Unforgivable Curses through his quests.
- Ominis Gaunt (Slytherin) is Sebastian’s blind friend. His family descends from Salazar Slytherin, and he wants nothing to do with dark magic.
- Natsai “Natty” Onai (Gryffindor) transferred from Uagadou, the African school of magic, and has a strong sense of justice.
- Poppy Sweeting (Hufflepuff) cares about magical creatures and goes after the poachers who hunt them.
- Amit Thakkar (Ravenclaw) loves astronomy.
Phineas Nigellus Black is headmaster, and book readers will know him from his portrait. Professor Matilda Weasley is Deputy Headmistress and teaches Transfiguration. Professor Fig is your mentor from start to finish.
You’ll fight Ranrok’s goblins, the Ashwinders, poachers and other dark wizards around the Highlands. Some goblins oppose Ranrok. Lodgok, one of the first you meet, ends up an important ally.
The Sorting Hat asks a few questions and suggests a house, but you can pick any of the four. The house changes your common room, uniform colors and one exclusive quest. The main story is the same for everyone.
Editions, DLC and Related Titles
- Standard Edition: the base game. The free Summer 2024 update gave every copy the Haunted Hogsmeade Shop quest, the Onyx Hippogriff mount and the Felix Felicis potion recipe, which were PlayStation-only at launch.
- Digital Deluxe Edition: the base game, the Dark Arts Pack (Thestral mount, Dark Arts Battle Arena, Dark Arts cosmetic set) and the Dark Arts Garrison Hat.
- Hogwarts Legacy + Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions Deluxe Editions Bundle: the Digital Deluxe Edition plus Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, a separate multiplayer game.
There’s no story expansion. Bloomberg reported in March 2025 that Warner Bros. cancelled one, along with a Definitive Edition that would have bundled it. Neither was ever announced.
The sequel is confirmed. Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q2 2026 shareholder letter lists a second Hogwarts Legacy among its upcoming games, with no title, date or platforms yet.