If you've noticed not seeing as many people playing, streaming, and talking about Hogwarts Legacy lately, you aren't alone. After coming out last month and topping the sales charts, most have stopped playing Hogwarts Legacy.
As per SteamDB, the number of people playing Hogwarts Legacy peaked at close to 100,000 at the end of last week on Sunday, March 19. In comparison though, nearly 900,000 wizards waved their wands in unison just a few weeks back.
Even though the number is still enough to put Hogwarts Legacy as the only single-player title in the 15 most-played games on Steam, the game's player count on the PC has dropped several-fold from its peak.
One reason why fewer people are playing Hogwarts Legacy is that it's a single-player game. It isn't the longest game either, so most people stop playing it once they've played through the main story. It also offers little in terms of postgame content with zero multiplayer gameplay, so you can't expect players to stick around. Finally, it has minimal replay value.
These aren't necessarily bad things but it does highlight a flaw that Avalanche Software should address in the planned sequel.
Case in point, last year's best-selling single-player RPG title, Elden Ring, had a higher peak player count (close to 950,000 players) and enjoyed significantly more players for a longer period of time.
As per SteamDB, the average player count of Elden Ring on Steam didn't drop below 100,000 until sometime in June, which is over three months following its launch.
The streaming numbers back up this claim. Hogwarts Legacy is way behind Elden Ring on Twitch. An exponential amount of players have either stopped playing, streaming, or watching it.
The game's developers have their hands full making Hogwarts Legacy run on the PS4 and the Xbox One. The last-gen port won't depart at its initially promised date. Instead, it was delayed to May 5. We suspect the Nintendo Switch port will also encounter a similar issue. But, if not, that's excellent news for the millions of Potterheads around the globe.
Once Avalanche Software has finished working on the Hogwarts Legacy ports, it can focus its energy on developing post-launch content for the game. A simultaneous release on multiple platforms will have Ravenclaws, Griffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins alike, booking return trips to Hogwarts in droves to find out what else that Hogwarts Legacy has to offer.
Despite the massive player count drop, Hogwarts Legacy remains extremely successful. You could argue that it has single-handled reignited interest in the billion-dollar Wizarding World franchise. But, we don't think we'll be seeing new cinematic ventures anytime soon despite encouraging statements. The controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling remains a hot topic to this day.
