While it’s disappointing that the game has been pushed back so considerably, this Hogwarts Legacy delay is probably going to end up being a good thing at the end of the day. Players are going to need to show a little extra patience, but the reward should hopefully be worth the wait.
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A Rushed Game is not a Good Game
Shigeru Miyamoto’s famous quote comes to mind: “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.” While it’s true that not every game that’s ever been delayed ended up releasing in a quality state, delaying a game in order to improve it is always going to make a better product than what would have been released if the game hadn’t been delayed. The first impression of a game is crucial. It’s why a lot of developers refuse to show gameplay first, and it’s why a lot of games that show gameplay that is drastically different than what actually ends up in player’s hands draw the ire of gamers everywhere. Once a game actually does make it to a player, the first impressions are paramount to the game’s future.
It’s true that more and more games that released in a state that players found disappointing are coming around and turning those games into something fantastic; No Man’s Sky is a perfect example of this. There are many cases that have popped up like this time and again, Anthem or Cyberpunk 2077 as examples, where the verdict is still out. Overall, avoiding such a scenario is really only a good thing.
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Hogwarts Legacy Should Be A-OK, and a Proper Next-Gen Game
The likelihood of this game being delayed into development hell/oblivion is minimal, due to the fact that the hype around this game is huge. This is aiming to be the Harry Potter game that fans have been clamoring for ever since the franchise exploded in popularity. That hype may end up being a bad thing, as it could create unrealistic expectations that no game on the planet can attain, but it does ensure that there are going to be plenty of eyeballs on this game. And if there are plenty of eyeballs on this game, there are plenty of wallets interested in this game, too. The odds this game gets canceled due to a delay are slim as a result.
While this game is currently said to release on last-gen consoles as well, the longer it takes to come out, the more truly next-gen the game is going to look and feel. Too many times a game releases around the time of a new console generation, and the ‘upgraded’ version is nearly indistinguishable from the previous generation’s version. The further into the PS5 and Xbox Series X life cycle Hogwarts Legacy releases, the higher the odds that the developer is more comfortable with the new hardware and are capable of doing some spectacular things with it.
While this game might still release on previous consoles as well, the market will have shifted more towards the next-gen consoles, meaning the focus of the developers will probably be on ensuring that version of the game is as good as possible, theoretically creating a more impressive game.
Hogwarts Legacy launches in 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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