For many gamers, Hogwarts Legacy will be a dirty little secret. The game isn’t officially out until Feb. 10, though many of those who have already streamed it have faced intense condemnation for being seen as promoting J.K. Rowling’s transphobia. As such, we suspect at least some of you will want to keep your enjoyment of this game under wraps, though if you really feel that guilty, we’d suggest putting your money where your mouth is and skipping it altogether.
But for some die-hard Harry Potter fans, the temptation will be too much to resist, particularly after the almost universally positive critical reception the game received when the review embargo ended earlier this week. So, if you want to play Hogwarts Legacy without being judged (except by your own conscience), here is how.
PlayStation 5
On PlayStation 5 you may want to hide the game completely. To do this, go to your dashboard and select ‘Collection.’ Highlight Hogwarts Legacy, press ‘Options’ on the controller, and select ‘Hide.’ This will make the game invisible in your collection, though if you want to see it again you can select ‘Filter and Sort’ on the right-hand side and toggle the option to see your hidden titles.
To hide trophy updates, press the PlayStation button on the controller, select your ‘Profile,’ then ‘Trophies.’ Once you are in that menu, select ‘Privacy Settings,’ then ‘Hidden Games,’ then ‘Hide your games from other players,’ and then toggle Hogwarts Legacy to hidden. After this, other players won’t be able to see any Hogwarts Legacy activity.
If you then want to be absolutely sure nobody will see, go to ‘Settings,’ then ‘Users and Accounts,’ then ‘Privacy,’ then toggle ‘Who can see your gaming history’ to ‘No-one.’ You can also go to ‘Profile,’ ‘Online Status,’ and then choose ‘Appear Offline’ (though this will block all online activity for all games).
Xbox Series X|S
It’s a similar story on Xbox Series X|S. To hide Hogwarts Legacy, press the Xbox button, go to the ‘Guide’ menu, and select ‘My games and apps.’ From there select ‘See all,’ then in the ‘Games’ menu select ‘Full library – All owned games.’ Once there, hover over Hogwarts Legacy, press the ‘Menu’ button on the controller (three horizontal lines), and select ‘Hide from list.’
Next, you will want to manage who can see your in-game achievements and activity. To do this, press the Xbox button, select ‘Profile & system,’ then ‘Settings,’ then ‘General,’ then ‘Online safety & family.’ Within this menu go to ‘Privacy & online safety,’ then ‘Xbox privacy,’ then ‘View details & customize,’ then ‘Game content.’ In the ‘Others can see your captures on Xbox’ option, select ‘Only Me.’
Finally, if you simply want to appear offline while playing, press the ‘Xbox’ button, then select ‘Profile & system,’ select your username, scroll down to ‘Appear online,’ press it and select ‘Appear offline.’
Steam
The simplest way to prevent anyone from knowing you’re playing Hogwarts Legacy on Steam is to set your account status to ‘Invisible.’ To do this, select ‘Friends’ from the ribbon menu at the top of Steam and select ‘Invisible,’ which will make you invisible to everyone but still let you chat with friends.
You can also hide Hogwarts Legacy activity via your Steam Profile’s privacy settings. Click your username at the top of the screen, select ‘Profile,’ then ‘Edit Profile,’ then ‘Privacy Settings.’ Put the cursor over Game Details and select ‘Private.’ This will hide all your purchased Steam games, your achievements, playtime, and whether the game you’re playing is visible from your Friends list.
The same instructions also apply to the Steam Deck.
Epic Games launcher
Sadly the Epic Games app is lacking any feature of this sort, so if you’re playing Hogwarts Legacy on this, there is no way to hide your secret shame other than by playing offline (if the game will even allow you to do so in the first place).
Hogwarts Legacy will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC on Feb. 10, with the PS4 and the Xbox One releases set for April 4, and the Nintendo Switch on July 25.