It seems like Hogwarts Legacy 2 won't be a live service game after all. At least, that's what Jason Schreier said in the latest Kinda Funny Gamescast episode on the subject:
A lot of people have talked about how in recent years people like Zaslav and JB Perrette are talking all about games as a service, but the games as a service mandate started long before that. This is more executives just saying what shareholders want to hear, because if you look at their current slate of games, they're not games as a service. Hogwarts Legacy 2 is not going to be a game as a service, the new Batman from Rocksteady is not going to be a game as a service, and even Wonder Woman wasn't going to be a game as a service. This is not a company that is going all in on games as a service. They're going all in on those big franchises.
I think they still believe that there's room for success. I've talked to executives there who envision a world where you would be playing in Hogwarts with your friends and you go hang out with your buddies, you're all wizards together and taking classes together. They have these kind of fantasies in their heads about games as a service that might work. It's just that these particular projects that are currently in development - I'm sure they have a game of service at some point somewhere, but those are not them.
That is quite surprising, considering that less than a year ago, JB Perrette (CEO and President of Global Streaming and Games at Warner Bros. Discovery) said:
Rather than just launching a one-and-done console game, how do develop a game around, for example, Hogwarts Legacy that is a live service where people can live and build and play in that world on an ongoing basis?
Perhaps it is simply the case that this executive vision didn't quite align with what Avalanche Software felt they could deliver with Hogwarts Legacy 2, effectively postponing the publisher's dream of a live service game in Harry Potter's universe.
Anyway, Schreier also doubled down on the previous report that there is a Hogwarts Legacy Definitive Edition in the works between Rocksteady and Avalanche Software featuring new 'DLC'. It is unclear whether this DLC will be exclusive to the new edition or separately purchasable for owners of the existing game.
Meanwhile, if you want more Hogwarts Legacy content, there's the new official modding tools and mod support released in late January for PC.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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