Hogwarts Legacy faces blowback from the LGBTQ+ community
Cover art of Hogwarts Legacy designed by Avalanche Software
By Christian Bon, Web Editor
Hogwarts Legacy, the newest game set in the Harry Potter universe, released on Feb. 10 to somewhat puzzling reviews. The game received eights, nines, and even a few 10 out of 10s from many respected game journalists. However, it was also bombarded with scathing criticism due to the political stances and statements of the Harry Potter author, J.K. Rowling, which raises the question: Is the game worth buying?
Most people that have played the game attest to its quality. IGN, a prominent and respected game news platform, wrote “In nearly every way, Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter RPG I’ve always wanted to play,” and they scored it a 9/10. This score is accompanied by similar scores from PC Gamer, who gave the game an 83/100, writing, “I've completed the main quest and dozens of side-quests over 50 hours, I'm still surprised by how good each individual element is,” Metacritic which scored 9/10 in 2,351 user reviews, and the over 100,000 audience scores on the official Steam page putting it at 93/100.
However, most game journalists also include a disclaimer. The previously mentioned PC Gamer article stated “What could've been a pure moment of celebration for a series that's overdue for a great video game is complicated by the fact that its success is a win for JK Rowling.”
J.K. Rowling’s name was irrevocably stained after she took to twitter and made a very controversial statement. On May 28, 2020, an article was published titled Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate. Rowling, evidently taking issue with the phrase “people who menstruate,” headed to twitter, posting a link to the article with the caption: "'People who menstruate.' I'm sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?" Before doubling down on her argument, in response to backlash, and posting a further slew of transphobic comments. Many of her previous supporters were hurt and disillusioned with the entire Harry Potter series as a result. They felt that the continued engagement with the Harry Potter brand was unethical given that it indirectly supported someone they could no longer feel comfortable supporting. This sentiment carried over to Hogwarts Legacy.
Leading up to its release, many fans refused to purchase the game regardless of reviews and encouraged others to boycott it as well. This boycott seems to have largely failed, and, if anything, backfired. In response to headlines announcing and documenting the boycott, interest in Hogwarts Legacy soared. Forbes reported that the game “broke records for the most streams of a single game with 1.28 million concurrents” and “peaked at 879,308 players on Steam on Sunday, behind only Cyberpunk 2077 for the most concurrents for a single player game.” adding, “Steam Global Sellers Chart listed four different SKUs of Hogwarts Legacy taking up all the top spots, two regular versions and two digital deluxe versions.” It has sold millions of copies and doesn’t look to stop selling any time soon.
So, this leaves the game in an awkward spot. Judging purely on gameplay, story, and world design, the game is amazing. Millions of Harry Potter fans purchased and actively play the game, which is great news for the developers, but Rowling also benefited from this. Many would consider it irresponsible to judge the game purely as a standalone work, while ignoring the baggage tied to the franchise. But many clearly also feel the opposite.
Cries from fans to separate the author from the game filled message boards. And the developers listened. They distanced themselves from Rowling, stating clearly that she had little to no involvement in the development process, and added options to create transgender characters in the character creation menu. They even introduced a series first canonical transgender character, Sirona Ryan. But for a lot of people, this isn’t enough.
Whether it’s morally right or wrong to support the game is up for debate, and it ultimately comes down to personal decision. I, for one, have elected against giving the developer any of my money, but I understand many don’t feel this way. Should the author be judged when talking about their creation, or, at a certain point, does the art become larger than its maker? It’s ultimately up to the individual to determine whether or not the game deserves their patronage.