Unpacking the controversy surrounding Hogwarts Legacy

Avalanche Software’s Hogwarts Legacy allows players to explore J.K. Rowling’s fantastic Harry Potter universe in an open-world role-playing setting. As the game’s main character, you select your House and appearance, develop relationships with students and more.

For many fans of the series’ books and films, it’s the Wizarding World video game they’ve been waiting for.

I covered the controversial title for MobileSyrup, explored its detailed world and completed the main story. Overall, I had a lot of fun with the game. However, before and while I played Hogwarts Legacy, I felt conflicted because of Rowling’s stance on the transgender community.

For those unaware of the controversy, in 2020, Rowling made an egregious comment on Twitter in response to an opinion piece.

Rowling’s tweet implied that “people who menstruate” are “women,” disregarding that not all women menstruate — including trans women.

‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?

Opinion: Creating a more equal post-COVID-19 world for people who menstruate https://t.co/cVpZxG7gaA

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020

Since then, Rowling has used her expansive platform to promote her anti-trans views several times. For example, Rowling’s anti-trans stance stems from her belief trans women aren’t women and should be treated differently. Rowling, who is a survivor of sexual abuse, also claims she wants women to be safe in bathrooms, perpetuating the stereotype that trans women are predators. U.S. politicians have even cited Rowling’s rhetoric when pushing back against pro-LGBTQ+ bills.

The author continues to vocally spread her beliefs, causing harm to those in the trans community, and because of this, many that were once fans of Rowling’s work have turned away from anything to do with the Wizarding World, including Hogwarts Legacy.

With all that said, I want to dive into the controversy surrounding the title to unpack my conflicted feelings about the game, and also to educate our readers about the issues trans women face.

If you want suggested readings from trans writers to better understand why Hogwarts Legacy is so controversial, follow this link.

Are you anti-trans if you play Hogwarts Legacy?

While I don’t believe playing Hogwarts Legacy directly means you hold an anti-trans stance, many disagree with this sentiment.

“Any support of the Harry Potter franchise current projects while J.K. Rowling is in charge of it and using her ongoing platform to target and also justify her continued targeting of trans people is harmful to trans people,” tweeted YouTuber and writer Jessie Earl.

I will not begrudge anyone their love of past works or thing they already own that they take comfort in. I own the first 9 movies and all 7 books myself. But any support of something like Hogwarts Legacy is harmful.

— Jessie Earl (@jessiegender) December 17, 2022

Even though Rowling didn’t create the game herself and wasn’t involved in its development, she still financially benefits from Hogwarts Legacy‘s sales and created the world the game is based on, as noted by Bloomberg‘s Jason Schreier.

Although Rowling was not involved with the creation of the game, her creative agency, The Blair Partnership, played a big role. She still owns Harry Potter and benefits financially and culturally from sales, leaving some fans facing ethical dilemmas.

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 9, 2023

Hogwarts Legacy started development in 2018, with job listings tied to the title appearing as early as 2017. As noted earlier, J.K.’s cruel tweets about the trans community started in 2020; before this, most were unaware of her anti-trans beliefs.

Unfortunately, boycotting Hogwarts Legacy won’t hurt Rowling — a billionaire with many revenue streams aside from Hogwarts Legacy — as much as it will the developers who created the game and signed onto the project before her statements and blog post. Even if they may not hurt monetarily, having all your efforts go to waste can be a cause of pain.

Some might argue the development team at Avalanche Software, and even the voice actors, should have just left their jobs when the author’s beliefs came to light. But this is a privileged way to look at the situation, given that leaving your job is not a viable option for many, especially amid the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the impending economic recession.

The voice actor for the masculine-gendered Hogwarts Legacy character, Sebastian Croft, also tweeted this before the game’s launch. Croft also stars in Heartbreakers, a Netflix show focused on a group of LGBTQ+ teens.

I was cast in this project over 3 years ago, back when all Harry Potter was to me, was the magical world I grew up with. This was long before I was aware of JK Rowling’s views.
I believe whole heartedly that trans women are women and trans men are men. https://t.co/QTAMClZDda

— Sebastian Croft (@SebastianCroft) January 14, 2023

I echo Croft’s beliefs. When I purchased Hogwarts Legacy, it didn’t improve Rowling’s life. She’s already a billionaire, and the royalties she’ll earn from Hogwarts Legacy won’t change that.

Hogwarts Legacy also doesn’t actively spread hatred and strives to be inclusive in several ways. For instance, the title allows users to create their own in-game avatar, make that character look exactly how they want, and change their voice to sound more feminine or masculine. Unfortunately, you still need to identify as a ‘witch’ or ‘wizard,’ which disregards other genders in a sense, such as those that are genderfluid or non-binary.

joanne. https://t.co/bGCc5KAnu4 pic.twitter.com/fcyuwgD4Rk

— ratchel (@girlmeat5557) February 6, 2023

The game also features a trans character that is reportedly voiced by a trans woman. However, some reports indicate that this character was just added to appease fans upset about Rowling’s comments. Further, some criticize the character for their name, ‘Sirona Ryan,’ which can be coded as ‘Sir Ryan.’ With the Harry Potter novels featuring characters named Cho Chang and Kingsly Shacklebolt, this, admittedly, isn’t a good look for Hogwarts Legacy, although others have pointed out that “Sirona” is actually an old Celtic name for a goddess.

Despite the lack of racial diversity in Harry Potter stories (except for the aforementioned few with racist names), Hogwarts Legacy does a good job of including people from different walks of life and cultures. The friend that the playable character makes from Gryffindor, Natsai “Natty” Onai, is from Africa, where they don’t need to use wands to cast spells. Other classmates and teachers are also from different races, such as Japanese Broom professor Chiyo Kogawa, Korean caretaker Gladwin Moon and Indian Charms Master Abraham Ronen.

It’s also worth mentioning that the game focuses on a goblin rebellion, and some are prejudiced against goblins in the title. Goblins aren’t a race, so you can’t be racist towards a goblin; however, since the early books, many have related goblins to Jewish people, primarily due to money-related stereotypes. It’s worth noting that goblins in many sources of fantasy literature and games are shown similarly.

Having now played most of Hogwarts Legacy I am here to inform you all that the story is not antisemitic, it's just dull

— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 15, 2023

Jason Schreier, a Jewish journalist, doesn’t feel Hogwarts Legacy is antisemitic but finds the game overall “dull.”

Here's my place in the Hogwarts Legacy credits, the second high budget game I've been credited in. I was the realtime technician on shoot floor helping mocap actors see their rigs in the environments. I will not be purchasing the game – it is the least I can do as an ally pic.twitter.com/IECYTWXqsr

— Parker Hartzler (@ParkerHartzler) February 7, 2023

Some who worked on the game also don’t agree with purchasing the title, including Parker Hartzler.

While buying Hogwarts Legacy doesn’t make a notable difference to Rowling’s bank account, there’s a valid argument that, as an ally, you should avoid supporting Rowling in any shape or form. The Gamer editor-in-chief Stacey Hanley holds this view and said the following:

“On the other, you have a much smaller, already marginalized group, pointing out that buying, streaming, or praising the game gives money, a further platform, and a longer future to J.K. Rowling, who is on the record saying she feels empowered that people support her beliefs because they keep buying her products.”

However, some trans people still purchased the title. Mitch Burdett, a 23-year-old trans man, spoke to Washington Post regarding his dilemma surrounding the game:

I really enjoyed my time with Hogwarts Legacy, but I also understand if you’re vehemently against playing it.

I know several people who are afraid to talk publicly about enjoying the game (or even play it at all) due to concerns about fear or hatred from the trans community. People like the couple behind ‘Girlfriend Reviews’ cried over reported bullying after playing the game. There’s also a platform that can find anyone who streams the game, so you can block them.

It’s important to point out that the trans community has experienced more fear and hatred than most can likely imagine, and they didn’t choose to be trans, while you chose to play Hogwarts Legacy. I personally don’t support extremists on either side of the coin, or the bullying and harassment.

I stand with transgender people, and I’m a part of the LGBTQ+ community myself. I don’t feel that I’m transphobic because I’ve covered and enjoyed Hogwarts Legacy, but I’m also still very conflicted and want to highlight that trans people continue to face a lot of hate from J.K. Rowling and her supporters.

If you are unsure about how to feel, just know that supporting the trans community itself is the right move.

Below are several notable LGBTQ+ notable organizations you can learn from and support, including:

• Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH) — the largest national multidisciplinary, professional organization in the world, which aims to support trans and gender-diverse people
  GLAAD — an organization aiming to support the LGBTQ+ community in general
• Trans Lifeline — a grassroots organization offering direct emotional and financial support to trans people (Canadians can dial 1-877-330-6366)
• Trans Pulse Canada — a community-based survey of the health and well-being of trans/non-binary people in Canada
• Bridges4Life — a Black lead non for profit to support Black Trans Youth.
• In the past, I’ve chosen to support The Trevor Project —  Trevor Project provides 24/7 support for LGBTQ youth in crisis

Image credit: Warner Bros.