Wizard101's launch on Nintendo Switch is a big deal for both developer Kingsisle and the game's loyal fans. During my chat with COO Leah Ruben and VP of product Joel White, they share the impact of outcharting the biggest game in the world, Roblox, and advice for new players starting the game for the first time. Plus, I ask an important question: what are they working on next?
We also touch on the potential for a Wizard101 mobile port, if you want to go and read why it's still very much a possibility for the pair. One thing that struck me as I sat down to play Wizard101 on my Nintendo Switch was just how confused I might be if I hadn't grown up playing the game. What is 'monstrology'? How do I buy furniture? In order to make the game as accessible as possible for people who may have just discovered it, I ask Ruben and White for their advice. Who better to ask than the people who devote their lives to the game?
Ruben's advice for all you new players is simple: "Make friends. Just talk to people. Jump into combat together. The game is so much easier if you are not trying to solo your way through it. Just jump in, use Team Up, [and] go fight in the common areas with people". White encourages people to take their time to learn the game, including each system, such as crafting and acquiring pets. The numerous activities you can complete on the side are what make Wizard101 one of the best MMORPGs, in my opinion. While you think they won't be useful in the early game, you'll have to grind later on if you don't get ahead of them now.
On the other hand, he also knows that there are achievement hunters who will rush through the game "to get their Xbox trophies". He advises them to withhold from making the game "a worse experience for other people" by actually learning the rules to co-operative modes like Beast Moon. "Wow, Joel," Ruben jokes. "Joel's coming out and saying 'don't be bad, learn to play'".
Ruben is clearly bursting with pride about the game's team of voice actors, composers, and sound engineers, and wants new players to relish in their work. "Listen to the audio, at least on your first time through. It's a really, really great experience. The game is just sonically amazing". I'm glad to hear her say this, because the sound in Wizard101 is one of my favorite aspects too, especially the score for the first arc of five worlds, each of which has its own particular charm and magic to it.
While they both have plenty of advice to share with newcomers, getting players into the game is another challenge in itself. Despite White and his team specifically setting up the console servers with more capacity than the PC ones, Wizard101 was swamped by fresh users. "We were seeing four-hour queues because so many people were logging into the game". Even though they were trying to find hardware to expand the server capacity, White says it's "hard to source hardware right now because AI companies keep buying up everything". Luckily, the hardware cavalry arrived in December, so the Switch launch went much more smoothly.
Of course, this many people trying to access the game is a win. Despite Wizard101 debuting on the Nintendo eShop charts as the number one downloaded paid game and the number four paid game overall, making it one of the best Switch games, White says he tries not to look at the charts too much. "I think it's bad luck to just stare at those numbers. You just do the best you can and make sure that your advertising is turned on, and then players will come, and if they like it, they're going to stay and play".
Regardless, in its opening week, Wizard101 beat out massive titles to climb the PlayStation charts, too. "We beat Roblox!" Ruben makes sure to mention. She also says that while she knew the game was once popular, it had been out for a long time - she had her doubts. "Is anybody gonna jump in it? On one hand, Wizard is like the perfect fit for the Switch demographic. On the other hand, it's Nintendo. So you don't know how well all these things are going to go".
Before my time with the duo comes to a close, I'm eager to know about their favorite worlds and, more importantly, what lies ahead for Wizard101. Ruben and White go on to share with me their favorite worlds and storylines that new and old players alike have to look forward to. Both of them highlight the first worlds they got to work on in a major capacity, which for Ruben is Celestia - she likes the beaches and Water Mole area.
For White, it's Mirage. He implemented a faction questline inspired by his favorite game, EverQuest. Ruben also mentions the newly-released Darkmoor, which has been transformed from a simple boss-fight dungeon into a fully-fledged world. "It was always the plan to go there someday, and the community reaction was great," she says.
While Ruben signed off on Darkmoor, White says he had nothing to do with it at all. "Every single breath I took in 2025 was trying to make sure everything on the console side was ready to go".
As for the future, they both mention the upcoming spinoff game Ravenwood Academy, which has been advertised so far as a choices-matter life sim. It's kind of everything I've ever wanted, but it's been some time since it was announced - I know for a fact news has been slow on this of late, so I press Ruben for details. She promises me that "in the next coming months we will be talking a lot more about Ravenwood Academy".
White becomes coy about a "top secret" project he's working on, and all the pair can give me is that it's Spiral-related, it appeals to a different portion of gamers, and it's more casual. Ruben suggests to me that having such resounding success with console allows exploration of "other types of games, including some things that are not digital".
White follows up on this, saying we should expect to hear about some non-digital things in about six to eight months. The tension is killing me. In the meantime, if you want to know why this game is so beloved by many, check out my Wizard101 Nintendo Switch review.