Do these execs know DLCs exist? They want a more constant stream of revenue without having to make a full AAA HP game every year. Well, make DLC! Much smaller investment and new revenues every year.

NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE LIVE SERVICE, MY GOD

Players: We want a quidditch dlc. WB: How bout live service and micro transactions? Players: Um…no, please. WB: Rhetorical question.

WB games should leave Hogwarts Legacy and Avalanche studios alone to make the game that they want, I'm 100% confident that they can make Hogwarts Legacy 2 an even better game, the foundation is right there with the first game.

Please don't mess up Hogwarts Legacy, please don't mess up Hogwarts Legacy.

I think one of the best features of this game is something Harry Potter has always done. Find the crucial middle line between selling to kids and adults. This game was a true all ages game. Stuff like Mortal Kombat will only ever be for adults and really adult children.

Warner bros isn't using their brains.

The irony!! If they were truly "greedy" they would actually listen to fans and give the customers what they want instead of losing money producing content that will flop.

All they needed was a steady stream off DLC to the first game. Like the Witcher 3 add big crazy expansions for a reasonable price every 6 months or so.

The fact we're hearing more about WB games plans for their games than any info on Hogwarts Legacy 2 specifically makes it seem like something is gonna change. Like AVA is waiting on their orders..

im scared about what wb gonna do with this game tbh 😣

They way RockStar did it. Red Dead Redemtion 2 and GTA 5 both released with an online version included next to the single player campaign. If WB followed that model then they won’t kill the franchise. Shit, he just said that in the video.

I don't think they understand how much money I would drop on Hogwarts Legacy DLCs. That is literally the safest bet they could make seeing as the fans have been crying out for DLC practically since release

I could see the quidditch game they're making being a good choice for a Wizarding World live service game, but definitely not Legacy. The quidditch game has a great model to look at for its success in Rocket League, but I just can't understand how Legacy could be translated to a live service game without losing most of what was great about it. I don't see it.

I’ve been playing Genshin Impact for 3 years. Single player (with small party co-op options) open world RPG that you keep getting more of the story and more of the world little by little over time. This is what I wanted HWL to be. You start at Hogwarts as a first year. You get to explore the castle at depth, go to classes, make friends. Then a few months later new update. Maybe a year later, you’ve progressed through the years, you’re a 3rd year and ‘Tada!’ Hogsmead world expansion update! And so on and so forth. And then by IDK year 5, two or three IRL years later, the lower Hogwarts valley is accessible. The developers could take their time giving more depth to the character interactions and story. Genshin makes the developers BILLONS OF DOLLARS and the only thing you pay for is OPTIONAL character pulls and a small handful of skins. Yes, they are a large game dev company and they do have a full team working full time on the game and in order for HWL to be this ‘on all the time’ game the devs would have to work on it exclusively. But if WB would back them, put money into a full game studio and put the HWL devs in charge of building that studio HWL could have a legacy that’s the like of FF and Zelda and keep printing money for all involved for decades.

I don't get it... why can't they listen to the fans? The game sold that many copies for a reason. They're going to screw everything up. They're so out of touch! Congratulations :( I won't buy it.

I want Hogwarts Legacy 2: Year 6 (continue the story) Maybe if they want to continue with Harry Potter type games they can also do a Hogwarts Adventure/Journey Online. I personally don't see the appeal of online games.

CEOs don't know games...only money.

Someone at Avalanche has to send the link to this video to WB Discovery. On Zaslav’a desk directly if possible. I will not support Hogwarts Legacy or Harry Potter anything if it goes live service. I hated GTA Online. I never touched any live service game again. It’s absolutely the wrong move and they need to know exactly why it is.

Oh no, I saw an article about it this morning. Hoping it wasn't true.

Live service is killing the gaming industry

Simple fix, if they fuck it up then we just pirate it.

Great video, Retro! Your research, insight, and analysis is top notch. I agree that, based on Perrette's recent comments at the Morgan Stanley event that there may be cause for concern. But also, because WB hasn't clearly set out their plans, we are left to speculate as to what they may be thinking. My opinion is that the WB executive team itself isn't sure what it wants. We don't know what's next because they also don't know what's next. Yet. They are probably still working through their product line and I'm sure they have several "irons in the fire" as to what could be possible, but until they start actually announcing what titles are being worked on, all we can do is hope that they are making smart decisions aimed at pleasing their fans rather than worrying too much about evening out earnings report volatility.

Quite frankly I would love if they took what we have already, and just made a separate multiplayer game where we can just laugh, run around with friends and have wizarding duels, fly etc. A lot of us grew up as roleplayers in other games trying to recreate hogwarts, or roleplaying on the many, many forums between 2007-2015 made to at least be able to be a “small” part of the world, interacting with other roleplay writers. I think many want to just be able to play with others and see a castle full of players chit chatting. Imagine Second Life style Hogwarts in the style of this game. It would look beautiful, people would have too much fun and hit the sweet spot of how many of us just.. Want to enjoy the environment.

I would like a game where you can play Quidditch online with friends or competitively with other players. I would probably want a Auror vs Deatheaters type game. It would be fun to have it like Hogwarts Legacy but adult characters. It would be even nuttier to use a mechanic like invasions. So you can be an Auror and invade a Deatheater or vice versa. Unfortunately you would need a different company to make that game.

I hope avalanche and WB will fix this problem for Hogwarts please😭💔

People love the idea of a [insert favrouite media franchise] as a MMO so that they can follow their friends around in the game... Till they realise that they will have to putting up with loot boxes, cash shop, spongy enemies, weak power fantasy due to game balance, lag, random server downtime, lack of free content and constant nerfs.

Great vid, happy to see your vids picking up more traction after the original HL spike! A little off topic but what do you think the possibility is of the HL update this summer adding more trophies? @RetroRaconteur

Don't you dare Warner.. If you do.. You will have many witches and wizards at your doorstep.. Ready with the unforgivable curses aimed at you!! 🤬☠️☠️☠️

Why not make a Hogwarts Legacy tv series, or a movie to sell merchandise? Warner Bros CEO should know that the market is oversaturated with live service/microtransaction games.

I think it would be a giant mistake to make Hogwarts Legacy 2 a live service game. I think they should keep the formula they set from the first one and recreate a success that clearly resonates with the fans of the franchise and then make some kind of live service MMO that is stand alone. Keep they separate so they don't shoot themselves in the foot with that. They're just two different gameplay experiences that I think shouldn't be overlooked by any company.

WB about to make us wish the boycott succeeded.

I feel like Avalanche really missed on the opportunity for DLC revenue. They could have made a honestly steady inflow of income to put into the next game while still keeping the fanbase in the world. Take Bethesda for instance, How many times has Todd Howard sold us Skyrim? I probably have about 7 different copies of the game across multiple platforms. That is , in part, due to the re-releases with updated engines and the pretty consistent updated quests, DLC, Making the game easily moddable, adding Lore and even the freaking Creation club which is just paid mods essentially. All before even teasing us with Elder Scrolls 6. Avalanche could do SO much with Hogwarts Legacy as the game currently is, while also giving them the unpressured time limit to work on the sequel.

You would think more corporations would have noticed that when hasbro tried to change their ip to make more money with d&d and mtg, the fans boycotted and they experienced record losses and irreparable damage with their fan base.

I think they should do it like GTA. One side of it is the main story mode, the other side is an online interactive world.

Hogwarts Legacy as of today has made 1.3 billion and Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League has made a total of 1.2 million. These execs are slow.

They could make a live service game that takes place at the different schools. One can either play as a student, or an adult playing one of various different jobs either in the school or any local town. One could even be a representative from the nearest government body.

This is a big IP. WB should let Avalanche do what they want and have someone else do the "live service" stuff if they want to waste their money so much. I'm very much a single-player gamer and I am not going to play a live service. They make the future games live service, I will not be playing them. I just don't like them. I used to play MMORPGs but as I've gotten older, I've decided "no thanks."

I don't think Live Service is the problem, especially if they do it as a multiplayer game, I think it would be really fun to explore the wizarding world with my friends, but WB needs to remove the cuffs from Avalanche, and let them do their thing with development and story telling, and more just be there to fund the project. As soon as they run their fingers through it and make everything with money in mind, that's when failure comes, prime example will be the separate quidditch game when it comes out.

Love the vids! Let’s hope this ship corrects its self, and greed does not enter the scene.

I cant wait for Hogwarts Legacy: Kill Harry Potter. S/ I think ideally there should be 2 different games. Hogwarts Legacy 2(continue the story) and Hogwarts Journey Online(multiplayer with its own unique mechanics) Not everyone wants a full online game.

My game has been unplayable for the past 4 or 5 months. I've requested support from WB but have been given none. My game just freezes in the Shader screen and my CPU overloads and ultimately the game just crashes. Ive tried multiple fixes like deleting the shader folder all together and try to run the game, uninstalling and re installing, etc... Anyone know how I can fix this issue please?

They aren't stupid. They know all signs point to the death of live service. What I believe this is is desperation. They likely know what people actually want but they just don't think that's enough, that to sell a game and make no further money than that just won't cut it anymore. They see that the regular single player stuff is what's selling but they just don't have faith in it and I know that's ironic given that Hogwarts Legacy was last years best selling game. That said I understand their fear of focusing on single player games with no additional monetization since you have to rely on the game itself being good and selling well. The best compromise then I think would be something like what you said which is online multiplayer. Having missions and side quests that specifically require multiple people to complete would be a great way of tackling this and maybe even handling quidditch this way, with entire matches against teams of real people. Maybe also 1v1 and 2v2 Duel modes would be cool, or the ability to invite other players to your room of requirement.

I really wish people at these industries would see these videos and listen to them

They don't seem to realize that the audience that plays single-player games and the audience for live service games aren't always the same. I hate live service and won't ever play live service.

If WB wants a Harry Potter Live Service game, they should just release Hogwarts Mystery and it's storyline in the Hogwarts Legacy engine

Why not just make both audiences happy. Create something that actually fits the live service model in he Harry potter verse and keep it seperate from legacies so single player game lovers like me can still enjoy ourselves

I could see the appeal of a small-scale multiplayer or self hosted multiplayer, but yeah every time I hear "live service" or "mobile" I dread that like so many others a franchise will go down that slippery slope devolving into another brand people won't touch.

I wouldn’t mind a online feature but full blown multiplayer 🙁🙁

I feel like making a second one based on a 6th year to continue the story a lot of game progression learning new spells wouldn’t make sense

I saw an article titled "WB going live-service for future games" or similar and I thought "PLEASE leave HP alone! I don't about your other stuff, but if you ruin HP for me with live-service, I will walk away."

I’d think Hollywood has issues with the time from capital outlay to delivery. A movie or series has a significantly shorter outlay to delivery time compared to games. Not to mention that the up front costs are higher much earlier in games. Also, the financial / production support environment is less mature. As a studio, movie making is more straightforward. I would be interested what a AAA game production insider thinks about this, especially if he has an idea about how movies are developed and produced.

Once we didn't get the Mauranders on Tv is only fair giving it to us on Hogwarts Legacy 2

two dlc's would be better. in Hogwarts Legacy, you're in fifth year. Hogwart students had 7 years of lessons. So the game can build up on 2 more years.

The people who made rocksteady good left, naughty dog forced the people who made them great out.

HL2 can become a Live Service game, but also keep the integrity. As others mentioned, under $10 DLCs dropping periodically would help. Also, it's possible to have multiplayer without that "Massively" part. One player could host a game, others could join. Many of the AA-AAA games that have dropped this year are doing this now.

Why not just make Harry Potter online where it has the same combat mechanics as HPL, have more spells to use, and make it like ESO without the loot boxes

I do have a love for Hogwarts Legacy and AAA single-player games in general. I do love my alone time in a fantastic gaming world. Although, if there's any franchise that should have an MMO/Live Service it's Harry Potter. The franchise itself emphasizes a need for friendship and the help of others in overcoming struggles. The idea of you and your friends, being Wizards and Witches, who can team up, and complete quests, search for collectibles, go off on adventures together, and show off the cool stuff you've made is an inherent plus of the Wizarding World. It makes for a natural online game.

Adding multiplayer to Hogwarts Legacy would make people happy. What I don’t want is always online billions of micro transactions. Pay to win. Pay for skins etc. Pay for seasons etc. Keep monetization out of my video games.

I believe if they would finish the story mode with the 6th year adding an online wizarding world where you could own house across the land with more spells things to do as a wizard or witch at an affordable price it could be a good game.

I'd love to see Hogwarts Legacy grow, but at this point, I'd rather they not touch the game AT ALL if their ideas are liable to disappoint us.

Does anyone know where I could find the videos where the Warner Bros. people are talking about their plans? I enjoy listening to Retro but I also want to watch the whole things themselves.

I don't know what Warner Bros was thinking when they said that the next part of Hogwarts Legacy would be a game as a service or as they say live service...that's a very bad idea because Warner Games has no idea about it or rather whose avalanche studio has to look like a live service...they have no experience in it...I'd rather have a story-driven game than a game that will be a stillborn in the end...how are you going to do that? As a fan, I'm so disappointed with their decision, as are many people...they only see dollar signs in front of their eyes, nothing else

They’re trying to replace watching tv and television engagement with what they think is more valuable… play time. With this you allow them massive data chunks rather than random increments of play. They also take in a massive amount of revenue for the monetization strategies.

I don't get it... The HL at launch didn't have live service and was loved by many. Why would they ruin it!?!!!??

I’m wondering if the Harry Potter live service game is the Qudditich game they playtested a few months ago

Maybe they should just do what comic and anime do have the main story then have dlc with new story arcs that continue after you completed the main story and just keep it going like one piece or better yet like telltale games did

I hope we get many more wizarding world games

People who play Hogwarts want to be apart of the story and immerse themselves in the world, you can't do that with PvP looter shooter. You want looter shooter do something like Fallout where it has 25 different endings. Something like Hogwarts has one storyline and the system doesn't let you mess it up. You can get different outcomes, or neglect the storyline up to a point, but you have to engage with it to properly progress. Turning Hogwarts into a Live System looter shooter would be a failure. Now, they could create something like a looter shooter where each player is a student and you can duel, and have multiple storylines for the game. To make it work would take a lot of work. Schmucks who run the company who doesn't play game but think they know better than the people who do that build the games is a major problem. Listen to the market and those who build the games. If you do that and give them what they want, like with Hogwarts, it will be a money maker. And then you don't have to worry about opening your big stupid mouth and mess it all up as a boss. Just sit back and let it take care of itself.

Hogwarts legacy is the best selling game and I bought it on a whim after never playing a game before outside of MarioKart8 with my kids. I will NOT play any live service games unless they have a single-player aspect. I know a lot of people like multi-player but a lot of people don't. The best way to get people to continue to play their games I think they need to do 4 things. 1)Have a Great story. 2) Single-player aspect that is complete. 3) Multi-player aspect even just as small as quidditch or Wizard's Chess included in the main game 4) DLC that's compelling. These things help bring in money as well as replayability. There are a lot of non-gamers like me that are fans of Harry Potter, that can be drawn in if they keep single-player, story rich aspects of the game

Microtransactions are not the way to go, DLC is. Helldivers 2 is the only game that makes live service right, but an IP like Hogwarts Legacy is not viable when I can't believe the suits already forgotten Magic Awakened. Avalanche is basically like Respawn from EA for making great singleplayer games for their Jedi series.

i would say to them to experiment first in a safer way. build a singleplayer game, but make it so that charcter can transition into a multiplayer aspect. see how mutch that multiplayer aspect earns them. than you know if it is the wise thing to do in the first place. dragon age inquisition MP does terrible. but the game still sells today thnx to its single player. though the MP is terribly made in the long run. it is still fun to do every now and then.

for gamers who dreamed for this game to become mmo (live service). you don't know what you are wishing for, especially when "free to play" is tagged along and most of live services nowadays is not like what it used to be.

Live-service doesn't mean multiplayer battle royale. It could very well be a story-driven, single player experience - Hoyoverse has become one of the biggest studio worldwide on this recipe. While HL2 will clearly not be a gacha, a live-service, frequently updated game with microtransactions is a viable compromise.

What if Wb made a new Harry potter game, One where we get to venture threw not only Hogwarts but all the other magical schools as well? Setting it up with a model like but not exactly a live service. That just so happens to barrow the camera and spell based combat of Hogwarts Legacy. And then that way we can get a new single player Hogwarts Legacy mega hit.

In my opinion, when companies release half a game and call it live service but still expect us to pay 60, 70, 80 bucks makes that game uninteresting. 1 year in when the game is 80-90% done because of paid dlc, it is uninteresting because its 1 year old and you'll be 100+ bucks into a still not finished game.

I truly am baffled because they think that the reason why Suicide Squad faild wasn't the bad story, the weak live service, the repetitive boring gameplay or the targeting of "modern audience". So what do they tell as the reason when they talk about these games? With what do they explain the success of Hogwarts Legacy? If they think simply the fans of the universe will buy everything then SQ should've been a massive success.

No live service. I like Hogwarts Legacy because its single player greatness. Breath of fresh air in a micro transaction multiplayer world.

How do they build a live service around Hogwarts Legacy and/or Harry Potter? Wouldn't that be Harry Potter: Magic Awakened?

Pride. That's what's going to kill WB and all the other properties that will go down with it. Their "execs" don't give a damn what customers want, they just want to concoct content in the boardroom that they can take 100% credit for.

I don't see this is a good or bad thing. Some great live service games out. I just don't know if WB can do it.

The fact that they still haven’t fixed the performance issues of the game should show you how much they care about the community!

I am not a gamer, but I bought a PS5 just for Hogwarts Legacy. I didn't want online, belles and whistles, or multiplayer. I just wanted to take that solo journey, and live how the books felt. For Hogwarts Legacy 2, just give me Hogwarts Legacy 1 in another timeframe with a new plot, new teachers, change up the highlands and the castle a bit, add a morality system, Diagon Alley, Ministry of Magic and Quidditch. Thats it. That's all you gotta do.

Honestly, I'm down with any new wizarding world content if it's high quality.

I don't generally do multiplayer. I've tried a few. They are usually nothing more than capture the flag. Even if they start out trying to be more, they generally devolve into that play style and I just want difficulty options, good story and the ability to use them as a distraction rather than a way of life. I LOVE Hogwarts Legacy. I'd hate it if it was a race to get respawn-able items or resources before anyone else. I want DLCs but all they have is cosmetic. Cosmetic is NOT a DLC...I know technically but no.

Somewhere, in an alternate reality, rocksteady focused on a DC title as a single player title which based itself on the Arkham universe before them, not what ss:ktjl became. Imagine a post Arkham knight game where you play as deadshot in a stealth focused title, stealing ideas from marvel’s ronin or the hitman franchise. Or maybe a flash game stealing ideas from things like ratchet and clank rift apart, infamous second son etc. I hope in years to come we aren’t mourning the loss of this franchise in the way we could be with the Arkham trilogy. I hope whether hogwarts legacy has a direct sequel story wise, or whether we take a time jump and explore another unseen part of the lore, common sense prevails. But until I see more details released in years to come, I remain unconvinced

I’ve spent well over $1,000 on the sims 4 DLC. And I have over 6000 hrs in the game. Just sell good DLC like the fans want and bam you’ll never stop making money

There ARE good live service games out there, helldivers 2 is the most recent example so I'm not immedietly turned off by the idea. I am skeptical but It could be very fun if they manage to pull it off.

I liked that I could play Diablo 2 as a MMORPG and a single player game, if they make it like that it might not be so bad, but if it's online only, it's not the same.

Can they add the patronus charm? because that would be amazing.

I'm 1 field page short of 100% the green house was bugged and unless they finally bring out the PS exclusive content as they keep saying it'll be out on all platforms

@Hogwarts Legacy KZfaqrs Alright...l really want to point out a massive elephant in the room that people are blind to see. Before Hogwarts Legacy came out it was actually being developed as an MMORPG! The base of the game still is in heart built in an MMORPG style. The game literally plays like a massive multiplayer game but with a bigger story element and only one player. Think about it, it has all of the elements that most AAAA MMORPG's have. There is only one element it is lacking...more players. If they can do that without making it "pay to win" than what's the problem? I am aware of some things that multiplayer could change or have an affect on...let me point some out. - Immersion triggers could be lessened. That means stuff like the goofy knights or Peeves random outbursts might not be something that happens due to technical issues with multiple players trying to trigger them. Though there are possible ways to do it but I would not count on it. - Another thing people may look down on is subscription based services like a season pass or premium pass. Though if done properly they could do it and still have a great free to play system...a good example to me would be something like the current DC Universe Online premium subs. - One thing I see people worried about is toxic players and cheaters. This usually always comes with multiplayer in every format. Sadly that gets worse as the years go by and there is not much that can be done but it can be lightened by not having many competitive modes. Rather than that...they should focus on PVE/Co-op. They could also use a clan system for competitive stuff...it would be easier to track that way. - This ties into the last one a bit but player coziness and privacy to play without hassle is sometimes difficult in MMO's. As previously mentioned you have toxic players and stuff that makes things a bit less fun for some. Even GTA Online gave in to having private lobbies having to adjust to allow private events rather than pubs only. This is a worry of my own because I really dislike intrusive players and trolls unless its not going to hurt or bother anyone. So to me that is something that is a big deal for all of this community. To me it is the biggest worry aside from pay to win DLC. I feel like the community needs to form a feedback and suggestions group to put together a fair sized survey about what will be accepted for a live service HP game for all of us to do. Once its done the results should be handed over as a petition to WB Games to evaluate and respond to hopefully. See, I am a fan of EW (Expansive Worlds) under the Parent of Avalanche Studios...yeah the hunting and fishing games developer. They do regular surveys and pool ideas from fans...which many companies are starting to do for games. In my biggest opinion, this form of community management is and should be the standard in gaming. At the end of the day fans are consumers of the product being serviced so it makes some sense to know what they want.

I live in SLC and didnt know avalanche studios was based in utah lol

If they really want to make fans happy just introduce quidditch either vs the AI or PvP and make the cross wands dueling club a PvP online for us. I’d be completely happy with this alone until they decide to make a new either Hogwarts legacy game or a new school in the same universe.

how to fck up something done right? *WB enters a room* :live service anyone? put it how ever you want but HL didnt have mind blowing amazing story...it was good at best...(more like ok) so them they want to continue on story is massive L for me (even some of the best story telling games become mediocre when extended to much and live service will do exactly that make it LOOOOOONG and boring)...also now we will have "free" to play mobile looking rushed peace of garbage with microtransactions everywhere.... the moment i hear "in game shop" im not buying and not playing next HL game im actually super sad they will ruin such amazing game and opportunity for quick cash grab

well if they can add coop and a battle pass thats it no shop and dont mess with the story

What’s a live service game?

Mess it up whatever, I haven’t played in a minute. All I wanted was to be able to have a dragon mount and have it in my vivarium

None of these companies are learning from each others mistakes. Instead, they have to chase that GaaS money and learn this doesn't work for the majority. Eventually, the word will get out but that might take a bit more time because there is just too much money to be made if it succeeds.

One mistake they are making is trying to compare Hogwarts to Suicide Squad. SS just doesn't have the fan base that makes brings even close to Hogwarts.