Hogwarts Legacy is now free to try on PS5 — but there’s a catch

Hogwarts Legacy screenshot — (Image credit: WB Games)

Released back in February, Hogwarts Legacy is one of the biggest games of the year so far. The action RPG is set in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and has quickly become a sales juggernaut alongside enjoying a mostly enthusiastic response from players and critics.

However, if you’ve yet to experience this magical open-world game, you can now give it a try without spending a penny thanks to a new free game trial. This Hogwarts Legacy demo is available on PS4 and PS5 but you will need an active PlayStation Plus membership at the Premium tier in order to partake. The Hogwarts Legacy free trial is available to download right now.

Unfortunately, the PlayStation Plus requirement is not the only catch. While the demo actually gives you access to the full game, you can only play for a total of 45 minutes. Hogwarts Legacy is a large open-world experience, and in less than an hour you’re unlikely to get much further than the end of the prologue chapter. In fact, if you’re an especially methodical player you may not even get to the titular castle in that time period as the opening sequence is reasonably lengthy.

In better news, any progress you make during the game trial will carry on to the full game if you decide to purchase it, and after around 45 minutes of play, you will at least get a rudimentary feel for the gameplay. You'll barely scratch the surface of what the game has to offer, but you'll have a general understanding of how everything works which should help determine if the game is worth your cash.

Why you should play Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy currently makes our list of the best PS5 games, and it’s one of the strongest licensed games in recent memories allowing fans of the Harry Potter universe to step into the beloved Wizarding World.

In our Hogwarts Legacy review, we labeled the game “a magical experience” and said, “Hogwarts Legacy delivers on the promise of creating your own story within the beloved Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The experience is occasionally blighted by bland open-world padding, and it's not the most visually dynamic game, but vibrant combat, a deep progression system and an astonishing recreation of the iconic magical school make it hard to put down.”

The clue is in the name, but Hogwarts itself is the real star of the show here. The developers at Avalanche Software have done a spectacular job of bringing the wizard school to life and Hogwarts Legacy shines brightest when you’re roaming its corridors discovering hidden secrets and interacting with its many colorful inhabitants — just watch out for Peeves the poltergeist.

Hogwarts Legacy also packs an original Wizarding World story that puts you at the center of the action, and with a massive open world beyond the castle to explore, you can easily lose dozens of hours to this game. Just be aware that a lot of the open-world activities are fairly repetitive, and you will need to tolerate some technical hiccups. Although, multiple post-launch patches have made the visual and performance stumbles a lot less frequent.

If you have even the slightest fondness for the Harry Potter novels or movies, then Hogwarts Legacy is certainly a game worth experiencing. And thanks to this PlayStation Plus Premium membership perk you can now give it a spin for free, it’s just a shame the trial isn’t a little longer. Nevertheless, 45 minutes will at least give you some indication if Hogwarts Legacy will appeal to you over the long haul, which is useful to know before coughing up for the full game.

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Rory is a Senior Entertainment Editor at Tom’s Guide based in the UK. He covers a wide range of topics but with a particular focus on gaming and streaming. When he’s not reviewing the latest games, searching for hidden gems on Netflix, or writing hot takes on new gaming hardware, TV shows and movies, he can be found attending music festivals and getting far too emotionally invested in his favorite football team.