Hogwarts Legacy: is it on Switch, Harry Potter game for Nintendo release date - when is it out?

Hogwarts Legacy has proven to be one of 2023's best selling video games, shifting over 15 million units worldwide and earning publishers Warner Bros. Interactive over $1 billion.

A blockbuster game tied to a blockbuster movie franchise (albeit one that tells an original, prequel story to the mainline series of Harry Potter films and books) was always going to be big business.

But the fact that Hogwarts Legacy stands on its own two feet as a solid, polished and enjoyable RPG experience regardless of the IP it is attached to has helped it perform even better than expected.

Despite the game launching this year on current-gen consoles like Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 (and the last gen Xbox One and PlayStation 4 machines a few months later), there is still a large swathe of the fanbase left unaccounted for: those on Nintendo Switch.

Arguably the most popular games console of the modern era, Nintendo's machine - which allows you to take blockbuster console gaming on the road as well as play smaller, indie titles on your big screen - millions of players on the diminutive machine are yet to experience Hogwarts Legacy's magic.

That's all set to change however later this year, when the game will finally be available to millions more players around the world. But when exactly will Hogwarts Legacy be released on the Nintendo Switch? And what sort of graphics and gameplay may have to be pared back to get it running as smoothly as possible?

Here is everything you need to know about it.

Why isn't Hogwarts Legacy on Switch?

Hogwarts Legacy first released for the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles on 10 February 2023. At the time of writing, that's a little over five months ago, and by the time the Switch version comes out, a full nine months will have passed since the game's initial release. So why has it taken so long to come to Switch?

"We know fans are looking forward to playing on Switch," say Portkey Games on their website. "Therefore creating the best possible experience is our top priority. Thank you for your patience."

In comparison to other games consoles on the market, the Nintendo Switch is a relatively under-powered console. Sacrifices had to be made by Nintendo to allow players to be able to have a cost-effective games console in their pocket.

Packing it with the latest tech may have allowed it to play the latest games with the shiniest new graphics, but the resulting unit would have been a lot larger as a consequence, not to mention the increased costs that would have been passed on to the consumer.

So while the Nintendo Switch is capable of playing a library of interesting, innovative games, sometimes it just can't compare with the much newer Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 consoles.

In getting Hogwarts Legacy to run on the machine, Portkey Games is effectively having to develop a new version of the game, one that will retain many of the original game's core features, but will have to scale back some of the flashier graphical features in the process.

How will Hogwarts Legacy run on Switch?

When Hogwarts Legacy was first released for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, fans on Switch were concerned about the eventual quality of their version, given how fantastic the game looked on more powerful consoles.

Thankfully, some concerns were alleviated when the game released a few months later for last-gen Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles. Portkey Games had been able to pare back graphics when necessary to provide a smooth-running experience, without sacrificing the overall artistic direction of the game. All gameplay features remained in place, too.

That being said, those older machines are still relatively more powerful than the Nintendo Switch, so even further revisions will have to be made to get the game running at an acceptable quality on the portable machine.

Will Portkey Games be able to do it? Or is the game 'Too Big for Switch'? They've left themselves plenty of time to get working on it, and seem to be set on delivering as good an experience as possible to their fans, so we remain optimistic that while it might not quite look as nice as other versions, Hogwarts Legacy on Switch will still be worth playing.

Nothing has yet been confirmed as to the changes that may have to have been made in the final version, but we'll update this article as and when Portkey Games has something official to say.

When can I play Hogwarts Legacy on Nintendo Switch?

Thankfully, there isn't too long to wait if you want to get your hands on Hogwarts Legacy for the Nintendo Switch: the game will be released for the platform on Tuesday 14 November.

The Switch version of the game is available to pre-order from Game.co.uk for £49.99.