Games on all aspects of Hogwarts Legacy to ensure it remains a true part of the Wizarding World experience.”ĭespite the developers’ best efforts to minimize Rowling’s involvement, online movements to boycott the game are already underway. In the FAQ page on the game’s website, the developer has stated that Hogwarts Legacy is “firmly rooted in the magical universe of the Wizarding World”, and that Rowling’s team will collaborate “with Warner Bros. For one thing, the team needed Hogwarts Legacy to stay true to Rowling’s vision of the Harry Potter universe, if only to inject a note of authenticity for fans of the series. The developers have teetered on the degree of Rowling’s involvement with the game. While the game is clearly spun off from her property, Rowling’s actual characters and words are notably absent from the marketing. It’s also telling that Hogwarts Legacy’s lore is set before the novel series’ main timeline and and without the iconic trio of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley-a point that culture critic Gita Jackson has eloquently written about in their Vice article on the game. To that end, the development team has opted to downplay Rowling’s direct involvement on Hogwarts Legacy, while artfully steering clear of mentioning the creator in interviews and promotional activities. (It was officially revealed in 2020.) Between her public support for researcher Maya Forstater who has repeatedly sprouted transphobic claims, and Rowling’s own transphobic rants on Twitter, Rowling has garnered support from trans- and queerphobic feminists as well as waves of backlash, most particularly from LGBTQ+ communities and the cast of the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts movies. Rowling’s stance on transgender issues has been increasingly polarizing since the PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch game’s development was first leaked back in 2018. This question is why, for all the enthusiasm displayed by some parts of the Harry Potter community, Hogwarts Legacy developer Avalanche Software and its label, Portkey Games, appears to be in a bit of a pickle.

And now that both the overwhelmingly positive reviews and the game itself are here, fans past and present are forced to make a choice: Will they buy Hogwarts Legacy? Rowling’s transphobic outbursts in the years since she finished the novels-this overwhelming show of support for the franchise’s latest big product feels troubling. In light of its controversial creator’s personal values-namely, J.K. The audience-driven achievement-small as it might be, in the grand scheme-demonstrated an uncomfortable reality: The Harry Potter franchise, including the expanded wizarding world and the then-unreleased Hogwarts Legacy, remains immensely, unstoppably popular.

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