Adaptation of the Harry Potter universe, Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy is targeted by trans people, because of its connection to JK Rowling. On Steam, ways to boycott the launch scheduled for February 10, 2023 are already visible.
Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy is a video game particularly awaited by a whole community of followers of the Harry Potter universe. But, the title published by Warner Bros. is also the target of criticism from transgender people, who reproach him for his connection with the author of the novels JK Rowling, openly transphobic. Thus, “Transphobic” and “Transphobia” tags appeared for a few hours on the game’s Steam page, as reported by CommonTransWs in a tweet posted on January 9.
The tags in question, which can be assigned by anyone to help better direct a purchase (according to Steam rules), have already been removed, Numerama noted on January 11. However, they did not go unnoticed, and were noted by many other members of the social network. It looks like a clear intention to harm the game Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacypending a possible review bombing when opinions can be shared. This practice is similar to a tool of denunciation, consisting in voluntarily allocating bad marks to lower the average of the game.
Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy has a big image problem
” A little reminder from your moderators that this woman is a TERF [soit une féministe qui exclut les femmes trans des luttes féministes] and that anyone agreeing to support her financially is also transphobic “, can we read in this topic published in December 2022, within the Gamingcirclejerk group. The post pairs a photo of JK Rowling with the main artwork of Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy. The message is overtly political in scope, appearing to mean: if you buy the game, you make JK Rowling rich, who is using her wealth and notoriety to fuel transphobia. Indeed, JK Rowling is known to have made promoting a shop with hateful messagesor for his public and financial support of anti-LGBTQ activities.
Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy should it suffer from the reputation of the author of the original work? What we can already see is that the video game itself is not transphobic. As reminded a Bloomberg article published in March 2021, there is a desire to make it inclusive. Thus, the game allows you to embody a heroine or a transgender hero – certainly a way for the developers to show that they wish to dissociate themselves from JK Rowling. Despite the good intentions that the developers of the game put forward, some people find it difficult to forget the link with the creator of the original work. It may seem a bit unfair to Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacysince JK Rowling is not directly involved in the design (while it was the case for the films Fantastic Beastsfor which she co-wrote the screenplays and which were however less critical).
The struggle of the trans community is legitimate. JK Rowling never refrains from insulting the people concerned, who then feel hurt. She did it again recently by wishing “Merry Terfmas”, rather than “Merry Christmas”, to a person. JK Rowling shows no willingness to change. Her transphobic interventions obviously have an impact on the perception of the works to which the author’s name is linked. ” Yes, I canceled my pre-order for Hogwarts Legacy. Got caught up in the craze then JK Rowling reminded me why I just gotta quit with Harry Potter “, testifies for example See Mia Roll. The boycott call is working, and for those affected, Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy is an additional lever to fight JK Rowling’s transphobia.
Should we feel guilty for buying Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy ? It is important to take a step back from the situation. This is perfectly summed up by Jiya in a tweet : “ People need to stop thinking what to buy Hogwarts Legacy and being anti-trans are the same thing. I just want to relive memories from my childhood, and it doesn’t have to be all political or moral posturing. Some trans people are in a hurry to play. However, we can expect the ambitious adaptation of the Harry Potter saga to have a stormy exit.
