WBD CEO David Zaslav Says Games “Core” To Strategy As ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Sells 12 Million Units In Two Weeks

Jill Goldsmith
·2 min read

Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav called games core to the merged company’s strategy as its latest, Hogwarts Legacy, the open-world, action role-playing game has sold more than 12 million units and hit $850 million in sales globally and 280 million hours played in its first two weeks of launch.

That confirms the open-world, action role-playing game as a major hit for Warner Bros. Games.

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“As the only studio scaled in gaming, we see it as meaningful differentiator and a substantial opportunity,” Zaslav said on call after the media giant’s quarterly earnings.

The release, on PlayStation5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, surpasses all of the company’s previous game launches, exceeded sales records across the three platforms where it’s currently available. It’s become the biggest single-player game ever on Twitch with 1.28 million peak concurrent viewers at launch, the company said.

The release has also seen an increase of overall global franchise fan engagement with the IP, with Wizarding World Digital garnering 300% higher traffic over the normal monthly unique visitor average for the first 10 days of February.

“We are so thrilled and proud to see the player response to Hogwarts Legacy from gamers, fans who are new to gaming and reviewers around the world,” said David Haddad, President, Warner Bros. Games. “Our development team at Avalanche delivered an amazing, high-quality Wizarding World experience that truly fulfills the fan fantasy of life at Hogwarts and our publishing teams have executed a globally impactful launch campaign.”

Hogwarts Legacy was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Bros. Games under the Portkey Games label.

Based on J.K. Rowlings blockbuster Harry Potter franchise, the game invites players on a journey as a fifth-year student at Hogwarts able to tap into ancient, powerful magic. Fans are guided by the Wizard’s Field Guide and unique instruction from professors and other characters.

Zaslav said the game’s release had been delayed by several months to “get it right” and it’s part of a push to mine IP across the merged company from new Lord of The Rings movies announced today, to DC superheroes.

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