Hogwarts Legacy is already in the hands of many players, though we’re betting a lot of people are keeping quiet about enjoying it for obvious reasons. Whatever your opinion on the controversy, it’s undeniable that this is a Harry Potter fan’s dream game: you receive your very own invitation to study at Hogwarts, create your own student avatar, attend lessons, explore the grounds, and unravel a dark magical conspiracy.
At times it feels like the game is running down a checklist of things every Harry Potter fan always dreamed of. You can explore Zonko’s Joke Shop in Hogsmeade, meet each House’s ghostly mascot, get sorted by the Sorting Hat, and generally live out the ideal Hogwarts fantasy.
But a big part of the books and movies is Quidditch. So, is this element in the game?
Bludger incoming
Sadly, despite Hogwarts Legacy teeming with every other aspect of the Wizarding World — even featuring rideable broomsticks, and the Quidditch pitch included on the map — you cannot actually play the sport.
This absence is addressed in-game. When you arrive at Hogwarts you see the Headmaster making an announcement to new students, proclaiming that “due to an unfortunate injury on the pitch in last spring’s final, this year’s Quidditch season is canceled.”
The students naturally react with miserable cries, but the Headmaster reminds them that they’re here to learn, not to have fun.
But… why?
Interestingly, a leak via the game’s Discord server in January 2023 says that Quidditch was indeed once intended to be a big part of the game. The data indicate that all four Quidditch positions were available to the player character and we’d have seen the season run throughout the year just as it does in the books. But, as the leaker concludes, “proper trade-offs are still necessary.”
Quidditch is a complex sport and making it fun to play may have simply been too tricky for time-pressed developers to focus on. After all, developing a fully-fledged action sports mini-game would take up a lot of development time that could be focused on making the game’s core mechanics work.
DLC?
The presence of a Quidditch pitch and indications that it was once in development lead us to hope that Quidditch will eventually make it into the game as DLC. It’s such a big part of the Hogwarts experience that we can’t imagine it won’t ever make it into the game, and now that it’s in the hands of players work can begin on expanding the story and mechanics in interesting new ways.
For now, pack away your Nimbus 2000 and forget about the Golden Snitch, because you won’t be playing Quidditch in Hogwarts Legacy. For a while anyway.
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.