Hogwarts Legacy has entered the UK charts at number one.
GamesIndustry.biz reports that in terms of physical sales, Warner Bros‘ game was “comfortably” the best-selling game last week, according to GfK data.
It also notes that, compared to the last major fantasy game release, Elden Ring, Hogwarts Legacy’s week one sales were 80% higher.
82% of copies sold were on PS5, while the remaining 18% were on Xbox Series X.
This doesn’t include digital sales, and GI.biz notes that Xbox’s digital share tends to be higher than its physical share, partly due to popularity of the Xbox Series S, which is digital-only).
In terms of the Harry Potter franchise as a whole, Hogwarts Legacy’s first week sales mark the best-selling week for any Harry Potter game released to date.
The second week of sales for the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone game was the previous best-selling week for a Harry Potter game, but Hogwarts Legacy’s physical sales were 2% higher, even before taking digital sales into account
Elsewhere in the UK charts, God of War Ragnarok remains at number two while Dead Space drops down from 3rd to 7th.
Hogwarts Legacy, which is based on the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, was released amid significant controversy around the publicly-stated views of its author regarding transgender rights.
The game is the subject of a boycott due to multiple public comments from Rowling perceived by many to be transphobic (for a full breakdown of the situation, we recommend this article by Glamour).
Although the author was not involved in the development of the game, critics note that Rowling will likely profit from Hogwarts Legacy and benefit from its popularity.
