Hogwarts Legacy Switch Release Date: When Is the Game Coming to Nintendo’s Handheld?

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Hogwarts Legacy has been out for current-gen consoles and PC for quite some time now, and while PS4 and Xbox One players got the game just three months after its initial launch, Nintendo Switch owners are still waiting.

After more than seven months, you may be wondering if the latest game set in Harry Potter's Wizarding World is still coming to the Switch and when. The good news is that Hogwarts Legacy for Nintendo Switch is still scheduled to release on November 14, 2023.

Hogwarts Legacy's official website FAQ page also confirms that the game is still coming to the Nintendo Switch with no change to the release date.

What's a bit unnerving, though, is that the game's port for the Switch had already missed its initial launch date of July 25, 2023, after the version for Nintendo's handheld was delayed back in May.

Developers Avalanche Software explained the delay with the need to give their team more time to bring "the best possible experience" to the Switch.

Porting a huge open-world game like Hogwarts Legacy to the Nintendo Switch's aging hardware is quite the challenge, especially as the hybrid console is now well into its seventh year, which might as well be its last before a Switch successor is announced.

Other recent triple-A releases, such as Mortal Kombat 1, have come under fire for looking and performing significantly worse on the Switch compared to their versions for other previous-gen platforms, to the point of being borderline unplayable.

It will be interesting to see how Hogwarts Legacy will look and run on the Switch when it launches and whether the additional development time allowed the team to optimize it for Nintendo's handheld.

Some fans have suggested that the developers would opt for a cloud version of  Hogwarts Legacy for the Nintendo Switch, to overcome the console's shortcomings. A cloud version does not run on the console itself but is streamed to the Switch over the internet from cloud servers that render the game's demanding graphics. A number of Switch games have been released like this, including Hitman 3, Control Ultimate Edition, and The Medium.

Nevertheless, a cloud version of Hogwarts Legacy seems unlikely, as it hasn't been mentioned anywhere, and the game's physical editions are the only ones available to pre-purchase. So, Hogwarts Legacy will likely run natively on the Switch.

While the game is not available to pre-order on the Nintendo eShop yet, you can pre-purchase a physical copy of Hogwarts Legacy for Nintendo Switch from Amazon and other retailers, which are still listing the November 14 release date.