It Makes Sense That Hogwarts Legacy Lost Half Its Steam Playerbase

"Hogwarts Legacy" has been a record-breaking hit, selling millions of copies right out of the gate and surpassing even "Elden Ring" in UK sales. Despite the controversy surrounding the title and he wider "Harry Potter" IP, fans excitedly turned out in droves to join the titular school and learn magic from the greats. Despite that initial wave of success, however, "Hogwarts Legacy" has recently seen a heavy drop in player count. According to data from Steam Charts, the average concurrent player count has decreased by slightly more than half within the last month.

As of March 21, the average concurrent player count has dropped from more than 270,000 players to a little over 131,000 players, showing a dramatic fall in the number of students enrolling at Hogwarts at one time. Of course, it is certainly worth pointing out that these figures do not tell us how many people are still playing "Hogwarts Legacy" on various other platforms, as these statistics only account for players with Steam accounts. It is entirely possible that a great number of gamers are still playing the wizarding title on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game could even see another increase in popularity when the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch editions finally arrive.

While it's difficult to nail down precisely why so many players have stopped attending "Hogwarts Legacy" on Steam (at least, not as frequently as they once did), there are a few factors that could be pointed to.

One of the biggest and most obvious things working against "Hogwarts Legacy" – and any popular new game, really — is that new games are always still coming out. "Hogwarts Legacy" was released in a bit of a vacuum, hitting stores during a brief timeframe in which when it didn't have any major competition to speak of, which in turn allowed it to immediately and mightily dominate the sales charts and capture players' attention. But now that newer experiences are hitting the shelves and digital marketplaces, the stranglehold "Hogwarts Legacy" has over the gaming populace seems to have weakened somewhat. 

In the last few weeks, players have been diving into newer titles like 'Bayonetta Origins" and "Atomic Heart," testing out new peripherals such as the PlayStation VR 2, or even returning to nostalgic faves like "Metroid Prime Remastered." Others have been looking ahead by diving into the "Resident Evil 4: Chainsaw Demo," uncovering all of its secrets before the remake arrives.

But other games aren't the only thing standing in the way of "Hogwarts Legacy." The game's limitation may also be to blame for the steady drop in player numbers.

The main factor that may be contributing to the waning popularity of "Hogwarts Legacy" is the simple fact that it's a single-player game with no real endgame or bonus modes to pad out the experience. Once players wrap up the main story campaign in "Hogwarts Legacy," there's just not much else to do. Players can go back and finish out any outstanding classes they need to complete, but the game doesn't offer much incentive for this, other than a brief ending cutscene involving final exams and the House Cup. It's not exactly "can't-miss" stuff, especially after the player has already defeated a dragon.

"Hogwarts Legacy" doesn't offer any co-op elements, so players can't link up with friends for some friendly dueling. On top of that, it looks unlikely that "Hogwarts Legacy" will receive any kind of DLC in the future. As game director Alan Tew told IGN last month, "We've been really heads down bringing ['Hogwarts Legacy'] to life, so at the moment there are no current plans for DLC." 

In other words, once you beat the game — that's pretty much it. Players are certainly encouraged to go hunt down every last collectible to try and unlock the near-impossible "Collector's Edition" trophy, but that's really only for the most focused and dedicated "Hogwarts Legacy" enthusiasts. Most players seem to be more than okay with moving onto the next game once they beat the single-player story. The same thing happened with "Cyberpunk 2077," and much like that game, it's likely that "Hogwarts Legacy" could see a resurgence in player popularity if/when more updates roll out.

Until then, players can still enjoy some ridiculous "Hogwarts Legacy" mods, right?