Muggles, there is no easy way to break this news. Brace yourselves. Hogwarts Legacy has been delayed and will now launch on February 10th, 2023. Announced via the Hogwarts Legacy and WB Games Avalanche Twitter accounts, the game has slipped out of its holiday 2022 release window to give the team “a little more time to deliver the best possible game experience.”

Though no specific release date had previously been announced, many had their money down on December 6th on account of some keen detective work on Reddit regarding the game’s accompanying art book. At the time of writing, December 6th is still the release date for the art book, though this too may be pushed back in the coming days.

In these trying times, many fall back on the old familiar Miyamoto quote, which is now seemingly rolled out at least twice a month. “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad”. Unfortunately, this doesn’t quite hold up today. Most games are delayed and plenty of them are still terrible…

Now, that’s not to say that Hogwarts Legacy will be anything close to terrible. Everything we’ve seen so far suggests a standard of quality befitting of the Wizarding World. Though, one does wonder whether WB’s insistence on delivering the game on last-gen consoles might be holding it up. It certainly seems like the Switch version may be running into some technical issues if the addendum above is anything to go by.

A Wizard is never late, except…

On Monday, Marvel’s Midnight Suns was delayed indefinitely, only two months prior to release. Publisher Take-Two confirmed that they’re targeting a release this fiscal year, but a potential five-month delay is quite the slap to the face of eager Marvel fans. So, if you’re a Potterhead in despair right now, well… It could be worse.

Important update from the Midnight Suns team pic.twitter.com/79yVfzpDED

— Marvel's Midnight Suns (@midnightsuns) August 8, 2022

Nobody wants another Cyberpunk 2077 debacle. Not the gamers and certainly not the devs. The launch and subsequent drama surrounding that game is a marked moment in the industry that should inform any project management thereafter. Whilst we’re currently experiencing the plague of pushbacks, which I hereby coin “The Great Delay”, surely there must be an end to this incessant madness?

There is an ongoing eerie silence in the games industry at the moment. Beyond some distant heavy hitters like Spider-Man 2, Suicide Squad, and Starfield, we know next to nothing about what comes next. The optimist in me says that this is publishers buying their time. Letting the anticipation build before delivering a payload of biblical proportions. Game announcement after game announcement, bringing us into a digital nirvana of timely releases and dwindling delays. Is this naive? Perhaps. Would it be sweet? Most definitely.

Delayed, but not forgotten

Hogwarts Legacy will undoubtedly be better for the delay, that much is certain. If your Christmas is ruined, why not read the books? Already read them? Read them again! The books seem to recommend spending time with family at Christmas so, you know. You could try that. If not, there are a bunch of releases to tide you over until February. Assuming they’re not delayed…

Will you be picking up Hogwarts Legacy in February? Let us know in the comments below.

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