I still remember December 2023. I was curled up on my couch, snacks ready, watching The Game Awards 2023 live. I had played Hogwarts Legacy for weeks, exploring every corridor of the castle, brewing potions, and catching magical beasts. So when the nominees rolled out and Hogwarts Legacy was nowhere to be seen, I felt a strange mix of disappointment and understanding. Now, in 2026, looking back, that snub still lingers in my mind as a perfect example of how awards, sales, and fan love don't always align.
The Game Awards 2023 had plenty of talking points. Dead Space didn't get a Best Performance nod for Gunner Wright as Isaac Clarke, which felt like a snub to many. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor only showed up in Best Performance and Best Action/Adventure. But the biggest zero was Hogwarts Legacy. Not a single nomination. For a game that sold 15 million copies, that was wild. I remember scrolling through forums, seeing fans argue. Some said it was because the game simply wasn't award-worthy. Others pointed to the controversy surrounding Harry Potter's author. I think both things were true, but the sales told a different story: millions of players didn't care about the awards.
Why did it happen? The Game Awards voters are industry people, journalists, and creators. They often reward innovation, narrative risk, and technical achievement. Hogwarts Legacy was a solid open-world action-RPG, but it didn't reinvent the wheel. Its combat was fun, its world was gorgeous, but its story played safe. And then there was the unavoidable association with the author's highly controversial public statements. That made it a hot potato. A snub of that magnitude felt like a statement, but it also felt like the industry was ignoring a game that many people genuinely loved.
As a player, I didn't need a trophy to validate my experience. I spent over 80 hours in Hogwarts Legacy. I loved flying on my broom, solving Merlin trials, and hearing the castle's ambient music. But I also understood why Avalanche Software developers might have been disappointed. They poured years into this game. Yet Warner Bros. probably didn't lose sleep. The publisher knows Hogwarts Legacy is a gold mine. A sequel is almost certainly in development. The IP was revitalized in gaming after the theatrical adaptations ran dry. Awards are nice, but revenue is nicer.
The Switch port was another chapter. When it launched, I was curious. I had already played on PS5, so I knew the visual gap would be huge. The Switch version was inferior in every way: blurry textures, long load times, frame drops. Nobody expected it to perform half as well as other versions. That's just how AAA ports to Switch usually go. Remember Mortal Kombat 1? Same story. But Hogwarts Legacy had already sold a ridiculous amount. It didn't need the Switch port to make its money back. So the poor reception didn't hurt the bottom line. It might have even helped the sequel. If the next Hogwarts Legacy is current-gen exclusive, it could avoid those compromises. In 2026, with the Switch successor now on the market, I wonder if a future port would fare better. Maybe. But I won't hold my breath.
Here's a quick look at how I remember the 2023 awards season:
| Game | TGA 2023 Nominations | My Take |
|---|---|---|
| Dead Space | Several, but no Best Performance for Gunner Wright | A genuine snub for voice acting |
| Star Wars Jedi: Survivor | Best Performance, Best Action/Adventure | Underrepresented overall |
| Hogwarts Legacy | Zero | A controversial but successful outlier |
The snub didn't stop me from playing. It didn't stop millions of others either. In 2026, Hogwarts Legacy still has an active community. Mods, photo modes, and fan discussions keep it alive. The sequel rumors keep swirling. And The Game Awards 2023 is now a distant memory, but it's a useful reminder: awards are not a measure of joy. They are a measure of industry politics, timing, and sometimes fear. Hogwarts Legacy was snubbed, but it thrived. That's the real story.
I also remember trying the PlayStation Portal as an alternative. It wasn't perfect, but it let me stream the game from my PS5 while lying in bed. For many fans, that became a better option than the Switch port. It showed that Hogwarts Legacy's world was flexible enough to live on multiple screens, even if some screens struggled. The game's magic wasn't tied to a single platform. It was tied to the feeling of walking into the Great Hall for the first time.
So when I look back, I don't feel angry. I feel amused. The game won something better than a trophy: it won a massive player base. And in the end, that's what keeps a franchise alive. 🧙♂️✨
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