For fans of Apple TV’s Mythic Quest, when Poppy was showing her new video game to the company and she watched as digital farts tore down the game as well as the servers, Hogwarts Legacy gamers have been experiencing a case of deja vu. On the day it was set to come out, there is an issue with saving play and the workaround requires what seems like a Master’s degree in computer coding to fix.
Designers have been working on HL since Warner Bros. Games acquired Avalanche Software in 2017. In its five-year history, it has been plagued with issues from release delays to the real-world controversy of the franchise creator, J.K. Rowling. One designer — Troy Leavitt — had to leave the project and reported that it had nothing to do with his support of cultural appropriation or his participation in the Gamergate Harassment Campaign, although the timing of his departure makes it highly suspect.
With release delay issues and gaps being left when designers leave the project, was the coding of Hogwarts Legacy rushed to the point that an inferior product was offered to the public? The answer to that question lies in the fact that RPGs take so long to set up and play that saving the game is a pretty common feature. If a game doesn’t have that capability, it is in fact inferior.
For any gamer who understood the fix, enjoy the game. For everyone else, it would appear they would need their hands held by Geek Squad.
As noted earlier, not being able to save progress is the absolute worst for games of this nature.
What if the problem exists on a gaming platform that doesn’t have a fix? The developers need to be on this issue ASAP or they just might find all their gamers migrating to other games just like it.
Imagine happily playing the game and then taking a break to get back to life, pay a bill, or eat a sandwich, only to find out that the game is gone and the only solution is to start all over again at square one.
It would be very nerve-wracking for anyone who had spent a significant amount of time already playing the game.
There are always issues with games when they first come out and that annoys gamers despite the fact that it’s common, but not being able to save play is a huge faux pas that should have been on a checklist somewhere. Make sure gamers can save their games – check!