Technologies

What You Need to Know Before You Play Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy has already sold over 12 million copies, what are you waiting for?

Hogwarts Legacy has officially launched, allowing wizarding fans the chance to enter their own magical fantasy. The open-world RPG is set in the Harry Potter universe, and it seems like the game that many fans of the books have long hoped for.

The new game from developer Avalanche Software lets playersexperience the famed school of witchcraft and wizardry as a student in the 1800s, before the events of the Harry Potter books. Here are some basic things to know about Hogwarts Legacy, including when you can snag a copy depending on your platform.

What’s the story?

Hogwarts Legacy players will «embark on a dangerous journey to uncover a hidden truth of the wizarding world,» according to the game’s website. You can explore Hogwarts Castle, where you attend classes. You can also go beyond it to new and familiar locations, per the website.

You can customize your character, choose a Hogwarts house and grow your magical abilities by brewing potions, mastering spells and taming beasts. Hogwarts Legacy sticks to the lore but doesn’t adapt the Harry Potter books and films.

What systems can I play Hogwarts Legacy on?

PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC versions of the game launched on Feb. 10. Those looking to play the PS4 and Xbox One versions will, unfortunately, need to wait until April 4.

Nintendo Switch users will have to hang on even longer, until July 25, to play Hogwarts Legacy.

The game was first announced in 2020, and its release dates have changed three times. It’s published by Warner Bros. Games under its Portkey Games label.

Is there early access?

The Deluxe Edition or Digital Deluxe Edition for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC included 72 hours of early access, starting Feb. 7.

The PS4 and Xbox One versions won’t have an early access period.

Where can I buy Hogwarts Legacy?

If you’re interested in the Standard Edition, you can buy the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions from stores, including GameStop, Amazon and Best Buy for $70 (about £57, AU$99). You can preorder the PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch versions from those stores for $60 (roughly £49, $AU85). The PC version is available for $60 at Steam and the Epic Games store.

You can view more ways to purchase Hogwarts Legacy (including how to buy the Deluxe Edition) on the game’s website. The Collector’s Edition has already sold out, but you may be able to find it online for a markup. The official site breaks down what comes with each edition.

What are critics saying?

The game has a Metacritic score of 84 on PS5. (The score is higher on Xbox Series X|S, and a bit lower on PC, but the PS5 score is based on the most reviews, 84.)

CNET critic Sean Keane played the PS5 version and writes in a positive review that «it captures the wonder of the early books, with an intriguing original narrative, engagingly varied gameplay and intricately designed world to explore.»

J.K. Rowling and Hogwarts Legacy

The game’s connection to Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has led her critics to call for a boycott, according to The Week. Over the past few years, Rowling has repeatedly made comments that mocked transgender individuals and infuriated trans advocates.

The Hogwarts Legacy website notes that Rowling isn’t involved in the creation of Hogwarts Legacy. But her writing is the foundation for the project and she still makes money off of sales.

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for June 8, #728

Here are some hints and the answers for Connections for June 8, #728.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle could be tricky. The purple category is one of those «sounds like» groups, that can be really tough to figure out. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Keep at it.

Green group hint: Think Wall Street animals.

Blue group hint: Online encyclopedia subheads.

Purple group hint: $$$.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Persist.

Green group: Animal metaphors in economics.

Blue group: Sidebar info on a person’s Wikipedia page.

Purple group: Homophones of slang for money.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is persist. The four answers are hold, last, stand and stay.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is animal metaphors in economics. The four answers are bear, bull, dove and hawk.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is sidebar info on a person’s Wikipedia page. The four answers are born, education, occupation and spouse.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is homophones of slang for money. The four answers are bred, cache, doe and lute.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for June 8, #1450

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,450 for June 8.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle isn’t too tough, especially if your first guesses are heavy on vowels. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has one repeated letter.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer, but one is the repeated letter, so you’ll see it twice.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with L.

Wordle hint No. 4: Ending

Today’s Wordle answer ends with a vowel.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a contract where someone is given the right to use something for a specific time and payment.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is LEASE.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, June 7, No. 1449 was REUSE.

Recent Wordle answers

June 3, No. 1445: ADMIN

June 4, No. 1446: CEASE

June 5, No. 1447: DATUM

June 6, No. 1448: EDIFY

Technologies

Resident Evil Requiem Revealed, but Where’s Leon Kennedy?

The Resident Evil 9 trailer showed off a new character, but not the much-rumored return of Leon.

After a fake-out earlier in Summer Game Fest on Friday, Resident Evil Requiem, or Resident Evil 9, was shown for the first time.

The new title is the first mainline entry since Capcom released Resident Evil Village in 2021, and is rumored to feature series stalwart Leon Kennedy. In the trailer, the only person we saw was a character named Grace Ashcroft, who works for the FBI and appears to have ties to Raccoon City.

For the most hardcore Resident Evil fans, the name Ashcroft will ring a bell. Alyssa Ashcroft was one of the survivors of the online-only title, Resident Evil Outbreak for the PS2. Alyssa was a journalist who was trapped in Raccoon City during the events of Resident Evil 2, and she, along with other survivors, had to escape the city before it was destroyed.

Grace is Alyssa’s daughter, and in the trailer, she is going to visit the Remwood Hotel, where Alyssa was murdered. Later in the trailer, images from what appears to be the remnants of a destroyed Raccoon City are shown — including the police department from RE2 — so it appears Resident Evil 9 will return to where the series started.

Leon’s (rumored) return is a big deal for the series, which has made some of its best games with him in the starring role. He first showed up as a rookie cop in Resident Evil 2, which built on the original game’s success with more story and improved monsters and level design.

He showed up again in Resident Evil 4, which took the series in a new direction by introducing an over-the-shoulder perspective, instead of the usual static camera angles and tank controls. Leon was also one of several playable protagonists in Resident Evil 6, a game that seemed to forget about its survival horror roots. We mostly don’t talk about that one.

But the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 was an excellent return to form, bringing RE4’s gameplay and much better graphics to a fan-favorite entry. The RE4 remake was a similar success.

Resident Evil Requiem is set to drop Feb. 27, 2026, for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, but we’re hoping to get our hands on it this weekend. If you want to catch up on older Resident Evil games, Capcom is having a sale that includes basically all the games, including Village and the three remakes.