Hogwarts Legacy will give players a chance to own a shop in Hogsmeade, something that is surely high on the list for any Harry Potter fan, and something that is going to become a reality with the release of the open-world RPG – but only if you own a PlayStation. The shop, a dungeon, and some cosmetics are timed exclusives on the Sony console, giving those players an entire year headstart on everyone else.
Console-specific content isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s been prevalent in this industry for years; I remember Call of Duty selling a whole bunch of PlayStation consoles because players would get access to new maps earlier. It may seem silly to some, but if your favourite game is just that little bit better on a console, why wouldn’t you favor the Sony side of the coin?
Well, it looks to be the same for the Harry Potter sim, with players able to take on ownership of their own shop in Hogsmeade – the quaint village outside of Hogwarts. This new business enterprise does come with a caveat, however, with its basement holding more than a few dark secrets.
The trailer, released at Sony’s State of Play, shows the player buying the business from one of the Hogwarts Legacy characters for a very reasonable price. As it turns out, the low asking price for such a cute building is due to the basement being absolutely riddled with evil. We’ve all been there.
The PlayStation timed exclusive DLC includes a dungeon situated below the player-owned shop, with the trailer showing off mind-bending hallways and creepy mannequins – not to mention the disembodied voice telling you about those who came before, that they “could not seem to escape the darkness”.
Twitter wasn’t happy about this news. The comments below the DLC trailer were chock-full of angry fans, desperate to know why they’re being gated on content because they own the wrong system: “What a dumb BS move, all your customers should be treated equally, not just one platform, and three others get scraps, it’s unacceptable.”
For more on the wizarding sim, we have information and trailers on the Hogwarts Legacy release date, as well as info about Hogwarts Legacy early access. If you can’t quite wait until next year for your fix of newness, there are plenty of upcoming PC games to get excited about, and there might even be a shop for you to own in there somewhere.
The creator of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, has made a number of transphobic remarks on social media in recent years. While WB Games says “JK Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game”, it is based on her work and it’s still unclear if she will receive royalties from its sales. If you’d like to learn more about transgender equality or lend your support, here are two important charities we encourage you to check out: the National Center for Transgender Equality in the US, and Mermaids in the UK.