Hogwarts Legacy will come out after Fantastic Beasts 3
We're headed to Hogwarts in April at the earliest
Hogwarts Legacy may have a more narrow release window, thanks to the new Harry Potter movie and the process of elimination.
As spotted by Reddit user SeerPumpkin, the November issue of Toy World Magazine includes an interview with Warner Bros. consumer products general manager Rachel Wakley about the overall Harry Potter (or Wizarding World, as it's more broadly referred to) franchise. In the interview, Wakley mentions that WB has "two major releases: a film and a game" planned for 2022.
"The second major release of 2022 will be for a new console game: Hogwarts Legacy," Wakley says. "The reaction to the trailer for this has been amazing and it looks set to be a huge success. We know that gaming is such an important part of the market and one that we had to be involved in. From what we've seen, the launch will be well worth the wait and will deliver a unique way for fans to interact with the franchise."
The film Wakley is speaking of is Fantastic Beasts 3, fully titled Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, and WB announced its new release date of April 15, 2022 back in September. If that's the first big Harry Potter release planned for next year, then it follows that Hogwarts Legacy will arrive sometime between April 15 and December 31, 2022.
Granted, that still gives WB about two-thirds of a year worth of wiggle room, but at least we know it won't join the horde of games coming in February - a growing list which already includes Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, Dying Light 2, and more.
Check out our guide to video game release dates to see what else is coming next year.
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I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.