Hogwarts Legacy: to buy or to boycott?

Trans activists are calling for a boycott of a new Harry Potter game set to be released in February in response to J.K. Rowling’s views on gender ideology.

Hogwarts Legacy is expected to be “one of the blockbuster games of the year” when it goes on sale on 10 February, reported The Times.

But the build-up to its release has sparked calls by some gamers to avoid it, despite Warner Bros Games insisting it is inclusive and the game’s website stating that the Harry Potter author was “not involved in the creation of the game”.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

‘Any support is harmful’

YouTuber and journalist Jessie Earl was one of several trans activists to voice opposition, arguing that “any support of something like Hogwarts Legacy is harmful”. Earl’s tweet provoked a response from Rowling, who said such “purethink is incompatible with owning ANYTHING connected with me, in ANY form”.

Rowling has attracted widespread criticism from trans groups since a series of tweets in June 2020 in which she responded to a headline on an online article discussing “people who menstruate”. “I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”

Rowling denied she was transphobic and said she stood by her comments, saying: “It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”

She has since been outspoken on the topic, most recently branding Nicola Sturgeon a “destroyer of women’s rights” over the passing of the Scottish government’s Gender Recognition Bill, said The Herald.

The author was also critical of the Scottish first minister over “the jailing in a women’s prison of a trans woman who was convicted of rape”, said The Times. Rowling tweeted: “Deeply amused by those telling me I’ve lost their admiration due to the disrespect I show violent, duplicitous rapists.”

Will Overgard, a US gamer, said that by supporting Hogwarts Legacy “you are essentially aligning yourself with some really heinous transphobic values”. He argued for a complete boycott of the game, which lets players take the role of a student at Hogwarts, in a video that has been viewed two million times.

One leading gaming forum, ResetEra, has banned discussion of Hogwarts Legacy altogether, and accused Rowling of “pushing transphobic legislation”, said the Daily Mail.

‘We know it’s a diverse audience’

When the game’s voiceover cast was announced, Sebastian Croft, a British actor who worked on the LGBT Netflix series Heartstopper, also faced a backlash. “I was cast in this project over three years ago, back when all Harry Potter was to me was the magical world I grew up with,” he said. “This was long before I was aware of JK Rowling’s views. I believe wholeheartedly that trans women are women and trans men are men.”

The game’s director, Alan Tew, has maintained that the game is inclusive, with players able to play as trans wizards and witches. “We know that’s a diverse audience. For us, it’s making sure that the audience, who always dreamed of having this game, had the opportunity to feel welcomed back,” he told IGN.

Warner Bros Games told fans in September 2020 that Rowling “is not directly involved in the creation of the game” – although her team did reportedly collaborate in its making, said The Times.

However, since the premise of Hogwarts Legacy is based on Rowling’s work and intellectual property, “she is sure to receive royalties”, reported Newsweek. “Multiple sources have cited that Rowling earns anywhere between $50 million to a $100 million each year from royalties.”

Despite the uproar, according to Newsweek, forecasters continue to predict that the game will sell well, and pre-release sales seem to confirm this.