Avalanche Software just released the hotly anticipated Hogwarts Legacy, and despite controversies surrounding the series' creator, it has not disappointed. Harry Potter fans are finally able to live out their dreams of attending Hogwarts and make a name for themselves within the wizarding community. It has truly been a treat for fans of the IP, and hopefully this will lead to even more exciting adventures in the Wizarding World.
Hogwarts Legacy has gone a long way toward putting Avalanche Software on the map. The game serves as a departure from the studio's past titles, showing just what this studio is capable of. While some players may always confuse Avalanche Software for Rage 2 developer Avalanche Studios, Hogwarts Legacy's success opens up a bright future after its more forgettable history.
Avalanche Software Has a History of Movie Tie-in Games
Hogwarts Legacy is not Avalanche Software's first movie tie-in game, and it probably will not be the last. The studio has made a career out of delivering tie-in games to all sorts of different franchises with names like Cars 2, Cars 3: Driven to Win, Bolt, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, and Hannah Montana: Spotlight World Tour. While none of these titles have come close to the heights of Hogwarts Legacy, they gave Avalanche experience when it comes to adapting popular IPs.
Avalanche Software has been churning out various Disney-related titles ever since The Walt Disney Company acquired it in 2005. Before that, it helped developed games like Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights, Rampage 2: Universal Tour, and Tak and the Power of Juju. It was also still playing around in pre-established IPs such as Dragon Ball Z and Rugrats.
Avalanche Software is Coming Fresh Off Disney Infinity
The biggest game that Avalanche Software developed before Hogwarts Legacy is probably the toys-to-life franchise Disney Infinity. Disney Infinity brought together almost all of Disney's major IPs into one giant crossover game. Avalanche took everything that it learned about movie tie-in games to the next level, and while the games were never critically acclaimed, each entry gave Disney fans a fun few crossovers to explore.
The first Disney Infinity brought together franchises like Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters University, and The Incredibles into one wild world. The second game expanded the roster to include Marvel characters, and the third game expanded it further with the Star Wars franchise. Each game was also backwards compatible with characters from the previous ones. The crossover may have been fun for Disney fans, but the series quickly became expensive to keep up with - as did most of the toys-to-life trend. Disney ended up shutting down the franchise in 2016, and it shut down Avalanche Software in the process.
Avalanche Software remained dormant until Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment re-opened the studio in 2017. Of course, Avalanche would go on to develop Hogwarts Legacy and \give Harry Potter fans the experience many had been dreaming about since they read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It is pretty impressive what Avalanche was able to pull off with its latest game, and hopefully this is a sign of things to come from the studio.
Hogwarts Legacy is now available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with PS4 and Xbox One versions coming April 4 and the Switch version launching on July 25.