Multiplayer has long been a topic of discussion in relation toHogwarts Legacy, 2023’s best-selling game by a significant margin. Neither Warner Bros. nor developer Avalanche Software has officially announced aHogwarts Legacyfollow-up, but it seems like only a matter of time, considering the success of the first game. Assuming such a sequel is on the way, it will be interesting to see how Avalanche responds to the multiplayer discussion.
Multiplayer functionality andHogwarts Legacyseem like a natural fit. For one thing, much of theHarry Potterfantasy hinges on concepts of community, friendship, and identity in a complex, magical world—concepts that would gel with cooperative or even competitive multiplayer systems. There’s also the accessible nature ofHogwarts Legacy: it’s an unpretentious and straightforward sandbox with an almost unfathomably large fanbase thanks to the prominence of its source material. Put simply, there would be a lot of players interested in “living” in the Wizarding World with friends, to the point where many have argued that the IP should adopt an MMO framework in the future. It’s impossible to say whether the franchise will go that far, but a more modest approach to multiplayer could be incorporated in an obvious way.
The House Cup: How Avalanche Software Could Cleverly Weave Multiplayer Into Hogwarts Legacy 2
A Multiplayer Hogwarts House Cup Could Kill Two Birds With One Stone
To be frank, theHouse Cup is a whole lot of nothing inHogwarts Legacy, feeling like more of an afterthought than a meaningful part of the experience. Winning the Cup is framed as a major element of the endgame, but this doesn’t adequately support theHarry Potterfantasy: the whole idea of the House Cup is that it is the accumulation of small factors over the course of the school year—it’s not just a matter of completing miscellaneous, arbitrary tasks.
Avalanche Software clearly wanted to make the House Cup part of the gameplay experience rather than just a passive narrative element, which is admirable, but the execution is lacking. One of thebiggest issues with the in-game House Cupis that there’s no sense of competition. It doesn’t really matter what the player does or doesn’t do, since winning is only about completing tasks versus not completing them. This is where multiplayer can come in.
Through asynchronous online multiplayer, the points that each Hogwarts house receives, across the entireHogwarts Legacy 2playerbase, could determine who is in the lead for the Cup. This would introduce a sense of real competition, with players being active in trying to get their house more points through side quests, collectibles, or any other means that Avalanche Software deems fitting for such a system. Thus,Hogwarts Legacy 2could have relatively unobtrusive multiplayerand better House Cup side content, addressing two major fan concerns in one fell swoop.
This kind of system would also make house choice matter more—yet anotherpotential improvement of one ofHogwarts Legacy’s weaker points.
A Multiplayer-Influenced House Cup Would Be a Nice Live-Service Compromise for Hogwarts Legacy
Warner Bros. Discovery has been open about its preference for live-service games over single-player ones, which Global Streaming and Games President JB Perrette describes as “one and done” experiences, not able to generate as much revenue in the long-term. Naturally, such statements have some worried aboutHogwarts Legacy 2becoming yet another live-servicecash grab, as it’s not hard to see the profit motives surrounding such a major IP.
But maybe gaming audiences and Warner Bros. could both be happy with the aforementioned House Cup system. Players would have a fun and unique multiplayer component to play around with, and WB would push out seasonal content and DLC based around House Cup activities, rewards, and the like.
Hogwarts Legacy
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Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. For the first time, experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Now you can take control of the action and be at the center of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Your legacy is what you make of it.Explore an Open WorldThe wizarding world awaits you. Freely roam Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest, and the surrounding Overland area.Be the Witch or Wizard You Want to beLearn spells, brew potions, grow plants, and tend to magical beasts along your journey. Get sorted into your house, forge relationships, and master skills to become the witch or wizard you want to be Experience a New Wizarding World AdventureExperience the wizarding world in an unexplored era to uncover a hidden truth from its past. Battle against trolls, Dark Wizards, goblins, and more as you face a dangerous villain threatening the fate of the wizarding world.
