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Hogwarts Legacy System Requirements: Can Your PC Run the New Harry Potter Game?

On Feb. 10, Warner Bros. Games invites you to live your Harry Potter fantasies. These are the minimum and recommended specs needed to enter the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

 & Gabriel Zamora Senior Writer, Software

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Hogwarts Legacy returns you to the beloved Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, this time as your own created character. In this much-hyped action-RPG, you live in the legendary castle, master magical arts, and explore your avatar's mysterious background.


Why the Hogwarts Legacy Hype?

The Harry Potter novels took the world by storm during the 1990s and 2000s, inspiring a generation of children and young adults with its coming-of-age story set within a fantasy-packed, modern-day England. Themes of heroism, love, sacrifice, and loss filled the pages of its seven-novel story arc, and its widely successful print run paved the way for an equally successful film series. Naturally, there are many video game adaptations, as well. Many of these follow the film and novel plot points, while others are spin-off titles set within the universe.

Hogwarts Legacy is the first PC and console Harry Potter game released in nearly a decade (not including mobile spin-offs). It is also the first game to introduce a character creator and a narrative meant to accommodate role-playing elements.


Hogwarts Legacy

What Can You Expect from Hogwarts Legacy?

Magic is at the heart of the gameplay. Various schools of magic teach you differing skills, including offensive attacks and defensive charms. Some spells reveal hidden objects, which is useful for exploration and solving puzzle; others deflect incoming attacks or magic. You can levitate enemies, summon and throw objects in the environment, or channel Ancient Magic to deal critical damage to foes.


Where Can I Buy Hogwarts Legacy?

You can preorder the Hogwarts Legacy PC game via Epic Games Store or Steam for $59.99. It is set to launch on Feb. 10, 2023, along with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions. You must wait a bit for the game to appear on other platforms.


When Is Hogwarts Legacy Available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One?

The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions launch on April 4, 2023. The Nintendo Switch version follows even later, July 25, 2023, so be patient.


What Are Hogwarts Legacy's Minimum PC Requirements?

  • OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • CPUCPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 (3.2GHz) or Intel Core i5-6600 (3.3GHz)
  • MemoryMemory: 16GB of RAM
  • GPUGPU: AMD Radeon RX 470 (4GB) or Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 (4GB)
  • DirectX: Version 12
  • Storage: 85GB available space

Hogwarts Legacy supports HDD storage, but SD storage is preferred. With this setup, you can play the game at Low Quality settings (720p/30fps).


What Are Hogwarts Legacy's Recommended PC Requirements?

  • OS: 64-bit Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (3.6 GHz) or Intel Core i7-8700 (3.2GHz)
  • Memory: 16GB of RAM
  • GPU: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT, Intel Arc A770, or Nvidia GeForce 1080 Ti
  • DirectX: Version 12
  • Storage: 85GB available space

With this PC setup, you can play Hogwarts Legacy at High Quality settings (1080p/60fps).


How Can You Play Hogwarts Legacy?

On PC, Hogwarts Legacy supports mouse-and-keyboard controls, as well as full controller support. The extent to which these controls can be customized is unknown. The game is also Steam Deck Verified, so portable gamers rejoice!


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About Our Expert

Gabriel Zamora

Gabriel Zamora

Senior Writer, Software

In 2014, I began my career at PCMag as a freelancer. That blossomed into a full-time position in 2021, and I now review email marketing apps, mobile operating systems, web hosting services, streaming music platforms, and video games as a senior writer. I'm a graduate of Hunter College, a hard-core gamer, and an Apple enthusiast.

The Technology I Use

I play many video games in my spare time, especially on my gaming rig, which is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 3600 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU, and 16GB of RAM. The Nintendo Switch 2 also sees a lot of action thanks to its backward compatibility, but I'll also occasionally hop on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. 

I'm currently using an iPhone 15 Pro Max, coupled with the Apple AirPods Max that my brother gifted me for Christmas, to listen to music or podcasts on the go. That said, I always carry my iPad Mini with me. The tablet line has served as my faithful drawing canvas for years, and is the one piece of tech I upgrade whenever I can. Paired with an inexpensive Wacom Bamboo Duo stylus, I have a compact, reliable, and convenient doodling set to keep me busy during long commutes across the Big Apple.

Cooking is my dearest passion next to gaming, and I embrace any tech that makes modern cookery a little easier. I discovered the Paprika Recipe Manager during my stint as a chef at Google HQ and fell in love with its simple yet feature-packed toolset. It makes saving and editing online recipes a cinch, and having easy access to them on my phone is a tremendous convenience.

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