Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions’ sudden announcement is only eclipsed by the announcement that it will be having a limited playtest this weekend. There is currently no telling how soon the online multiplayer game could be released, though if it is already in a playtest stage of development, that’s exciting news for fans. This was perhaps a brilliant way to announce the game, as its reveal will be made public at the same time that hand-picked players get to spend time with it. However, its eventual launch should steer clear ofHogwarts Legacy’s own release blunders.
Hogwarts Legacyfound huge success as an open-world action-RPG that allows fans to immerse themselves as Hogwarts students, but it has not yet been released on all platforms, and it withheld content for particular editions.Hogwarts Legacyis not a current-gen-exclusive game, for example, though it has only been released on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S thus far.Quidditch Legacystates that it will release on PC and unspecified consoles and that is great news, but the uncertainty with which platforms it will release on makes it seem like it could be going down a similarly scattered roadmap.
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Quidditch Champions Should Avoid Hogwarts Legacy’s Scattered Release and Content
Hogwarts Legacyreleases on PS4 and Xbox One early next month, and on Nintendo Switch in July. This means that a considerable amount of time will have passed since its initial launch, even if it is nice for previous-gen platforms to finally receive the game. It also might not have beenHogwarts Legacy’s intent at all, leading to an unfortunate circumstance.
Either way, the editions fans had access to at launch were also not all-encompassing. It is common nowadays for games to feature several editions with exclusive bonuses and pre-order goodies, butHogwarts Legacyfeatures a PlayStation-exclusive questthat PC and Xbox players are currently unable to experience.
PlayStation users may have been pleased with this outcome, but it means that other platforms are left with an experience that feels incomplete as a result. Learning fromHogwarts Legacy’s blunders,Harry Potter: Quidditch Championswould do well to stick to a single release date for all platforms if possible, and its content should be available to all users equally.
Quidditch Champions’ online multiplayer trappingsshould obviously avoid any predatory microtransactions as well, but having the entire experience available for players on any platform of their choosing would be a strength thatHogwarts Legacystill does not have to its name. It is arguably more important thatQuidditch Championsreleases on all its platforms right away because it is an online multiplayer game, and cross-play could mean that it has the widest net to cast for a playerbase at launch.
It could be detrimental toQuidditch Championsnot to have every potential player accounted for instantly. The limited playtest itself will be an interesting measurement of fans’ excitement, and may ultimately reveal which consoles it is available for.Quidditch Champions’ art style is not steeped in graphical fidelity and realism, for example, so it should be more than capable of launching on any modern platform from a technical standpoint.
Quidditch Championsmay also be tempted to have platform-specific bonuses in an attempt to increase its playerbase on a particular console, but that should be avoided unless the bonus is unlockable in-game on any platform. It is also uncertain whetherQuidditch Championswill be free-to-play or not, though that would surely help to make it more accessible and avoidHogwarts Legacy’s awkward release pattern. Free-to-play access would effectively mean it dodgeshaving an Early Access period likeHogwarts Legacydid.
Harry Potter: Quidditch Championsis in development for PC and unspecified consoles.
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