Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software have finally shared a first official look at Hogwarts Legacy running on Nintendo Switch just a few days ahead of launch.
The Magic Awaits trailer, which you can watch below, shows just over two minutes of the hit Harry Potter game running on Switch ahead of its November 14 launch. Somewhat bizarrely, neither the publisher nor developer had shared a single glimpse of gameplay until this trailer, even with it already being available on other platforms.
A handful of cutscenes show the player character beginning their journey as a witch or wizard, by getting a wand at Ollivanders, taking part in their first magic lessons, and so on. The trailer also features some of Hogwarts Legacy’s baddies and monsters that players will need to take on.
Only six screenshots of Hogwarts Legacy on Switch had officially been shared previously, showing magic lessons in the classrooms of Hogwarts, seating by the Black Lake, and some of the spooks featuring in the game.
Unofficially, however, a sliver of gameplay could be viewed online as of November 7 when someone received a boxed copy of Hogwarts Legacy early and leaked it online.
Hogwarts Legacy was announced for Switch way back in March 2022 but, while the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S versions of the game only suffered a short delay, the Switch version is almost a year late. Not launching alongside the more powerful consoles’ versions, the Switch version was instead set for July 2023 before being delayed to the current November date.
Hogwarts Legacy easily became February’s best-selling game, and beyond that the best-selling game of 2023 at the time. It had sold 15 million copies as of May, and amassed Warner Bros. Discovery an eye-watering $1 billion. Its success has been mixed with controversy due to its connection to creator J.K. Rowling, though, who has been outspoken in her anti-transgender views.
In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “In almost every way, Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter RPG [we’ve] always wanted to play.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
