It’s becoming increasingly common to see major third party (and even first party) games launching on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S with higher prices than their previous-gen counterparts, and it doesn’t look like that’ll be stopping anytime soon. In fact, it looks like Hogwarts Legacy is going to be the next game to do that.
As reported by VGC, Hogwarts Legacy has been priced higher on new-gen machines by various retailers. In the US, Best Buy and GameStop both list the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S versions for $69.99, while PS4, Xbox One, and Switch versions are priced at $59.99. Similarly, in the UK, GAME lists current-gen versions for £69.99, and previous-gen versions for £59.99.
It also doesn’t look like there will be any upgrade paths offered, and Smart Delivery is seemingly not going to be supported on Xbox. As VGC mentions, games that support Smart Delivery generally explicitly mention that on their box art, and also mention both Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S as supported platforms. In the Hogwarts Legacy Xbox box art found on the GameStop website, however, only Xbox One is mentioned, while Smart Delivery isn’t. Recently, it was the same with WWE 2K22, which also doesn’t support Smart Deliver.
Of course, it’s worth remembering that WB Games hasn’t made any official statements on the game’s pricing and whether or not next-gen upgrade paths will be offered, while it’s also possible that the details listed by retailers are just placeholders. There’s also the fact that Hogwarts Legacy is still a ways off from launch, so the publisher might not yet be ready to talk about launch-related things. Thankfully, it’s been confirmed that the game isn’t going to have any microtransactions, so there’s that.
Hogwarts Legacy will launch this Holiday for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Though the Switch version has been officially confirmed, there’s still no clarity on whether or not it’ll be a cloud-exclusive release.
