Warner Bros CFO Seemingly Confirms Hogwarts Legacy Sequel

Upon its release in February 2023, the highly anticipated Hogwarts Legacy became a massive hit among gamers and Harry Potter fans alike. It sold over 12 million copies in its first 2 weeks and reached $1 billion in revenue in just 3 months. By 2024, it had reached 24 million copies sold making it the highest-selling video game of 2023. 

So naturally, it would only make sense for a sequel game to be in the works. Rumors that a sequel was in development had already begun popping up within a month of the game’s release, but Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels seems to have finally confirmed a Hogwarts Legacy sequel to be in the works.

Gunnar Wiedenfels Comments: Sequel a Priority

Speaking during an interview he did at Bank of America’s 2024 Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference, Wiedenfels said 

“Obviously, a successor to ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ is one of the biggest priorities in a couple of years down the road. So there is certainly a significant growth contribution from that [games] business in our strategic outlook here.”

From the vague nature of these comments, it is unclear whether or not the game is in development yet. Is “a couple years down the road” the timetable for release or is that when they would begin production? As of right now, we can’t be sure, but there is likely a good chance that development is already underway.

Hogwarts Legacy was in development for about 5 years, a wait that felt like a lifetime for an anticipating fan. The good news, though, is that since Hogwarts castle and the surrounding grounds were already created for the first game, the developers won’t have to start from scratch and will be building off of the first game. Hopefully, they still find ways to keep the castle and grounds fresh and fun to explore and add the stuff they couldn’t fit into the game the first time around.

What Fans Want in Hogwarts Legacy Sequel

One of the ways it would make sense to improve and expand upon the original game would be to add some of the locations fans wanted but didn’t get in the first game, such as Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, the Ministry, and Godric’s Hollow. 

They could also include some of the magical creatures, spells, potions, and plants that didn’t make it into the game first time around. Me personally, I want to fight off dementors with a Patronous charm. Plus, imagine how fun it would be to choose your own Patronous! Honestly a missed opportunity that the first game didn’t include that. 

Many fans also wanted a Triwizard Tournament in the first game. However, book lore says that the deadly tournament would have been outlawed at the time Hogwarts Legacy takes place. A good solution the developers could use to get around this would be to have an underground version of the tournament for students to enter. 

The number one thing that fans want from the sequel is, of course, Quidditch. Although we did finally get a Quidditch game in Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, we want a fully developed Quidditch game within Hogwarts Legacy. 

Setting the Stage for a Sequel (or a Trilogy)

Since our main character enters Hogwarts as a 5th year, it would make a lot of sense for the sequel to take place during year 6, while a third game could close out the trilogy and cover year 7. This would allow them to continue the story of our main character as well as further develop the NPCs and side characters that inhabit the game. Given the ambiguous ending of the main story questline, it will be interesting to see how they pick that up and continue the story. 

What WBD’s Prioritization Means for the Franchise

Now that Hogwarts Legacy has established itself as a juggernaut of the gaming industry, it is likely the sequel will be supported with a larger budget than the first game received. This would allow for improved graphics, a bigger map, and higher quality all around. Maybe they can use some of that budget to figure out Quidditch! 

Regardless, Wiedenfels’ comments come as a bit of great news for anyone who was hoping for a Hogwarts Legacy sequel. 

What do you think? What do you want from a Hogwarts Legacy sequel?