As the release date for Hogwarts Legacy approaches quickly, in a little over a month, it’s hard not to feel a sense of excitement and anticipation. After all, who wouldn’t want the chance to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and experience the magic and wonder of the Harry Potter universe? However, some individuals and groups have expressed concern and criticism over the involvement of J.K. Rowling, the mastermind of the Harry Potter series, in the game’s development and have begun a rather feeble attempt to cancel the upcoming title.
In recent years, Rowling has faced criticism for her openness to question the trans movement and their war against words and their meanings. In one instance, an article arguing for greater investment in menstrual health and hygiene in developing countries used the term ‘people who menstruate’ instead of women. To most, it was obvious that the article was referring to women. Rowling took an opportunity to point this out by tweeting ‘I’m sure there used to be a word for those people . Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?’ Apparently, it’s transphobic to say women get periods considering the outcry that followed Rowling’s tweet. In response to this Rowling later stated “If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth.”
This isn’t Rowling’s first time openly fighting for what she believes is true. In the past she had tweeted her support for Maya Forstater, another woman being labeled as transphobic who lost her job for tweeting that people can not change their biological sex. She claimed she was discriminated against because of her beliefs, which include “that sex is immutable and not to be conflated with gender identity”.Forstater later won a tribunal appeal over her tweets.
Rowling later published an essay on her website describing in depth her views and reasoning behind them. She goes on to explain that ‘biological sex’ holds precedence over feelings and insists that biological women and trans women aren’t the same. Also, writing about the compassion and empathy she feels towards the issues trans women have to go through.
She even goes on to identify with the trans movement in a heartbreaking and vulnerable statement saying she too might have considered transitioning had the option been available to her as a teenager. “The allure of escaping womanhood would have been huge, “ she writes. “If I’d found community and sympathy online that I couldn’t find in my immediate environment, I believe I could have been persuaded to turn myself into the son my father had openly said he’d have preferred.”
Despite her compassion and openness, some people have called for boycotts of Rowling’s work and for companies to distance themselves from her. In the case of “Hogwarts Legacy,” some individuals have called for the game to be canceled or for Rowling to have no involvement in its development, arguing that her views and beliefs are not aligned with the values of inclusivity and acceptance promoted in the Harry Potter series despite the fact that canceling the game would be counterproductive to the trans movement. In a recent sneak peek of the game we learn that during character creation you aren’t forced to pick a gender for your attending student. Rather, in a quite revolutionary move, you are allowed to proceed making your character with whatever sex characteristics you wish and then can have them referred to as either a ‘witch’ or ‘wizard’ throughout the rest of the game allowing you to essentially change the pronouns used for your character. I imagine if Rowling was as transphobic as some would like you to believe this progressive move wouldn’t be tolerated in her intellectual property.
Due to the controversy calls to completely boycott the game are ever increasing the closer we come to the release date on February 10th. However many fans in the online community are pushing back against the boycott, some defending Rowling and even more noting that Rowling herself, being obscenely wealthy, would not even notice the financial effects if the game didn’t sell well, while the developers who worked on the game would be negatively effected by a boycott and may find themselves out of a job for doing nothing more than trying to bring us the biggest title of 2023. Furthermore, some fans are insisting on playing the game just to support Rowling and her conquest for truth and speaking her mind.
This boils down to multiple different factions warring within the fanbase and being at odds with themselves, which somehow feels like the Hogwarts houses in real life. I can’t wait to see how toxic the in-game chat becomes upon the game’s release. Remember how devotedly people aligned with the Pokemon Go factions? Imagine that but with a lot more hostility. I remember that summer fondly, We allowed a game to get us out and bring us all together. What happened? Gaming and the world at large has become so toxic. We can only wait and see what this release brings. Will it be worth all the hype and controversy? Is Hogwarts Legacy the next big MMO true to the Harry Potter Universe? Or is it just another let down by the money hungry corporate gaming industry that we are so used to? Only time will tell. So get your wand and snuggle up with your furry familiar because in a short 6 weeks we will all be sitting under that sorting hat. In the words of Hagrid “What’s comin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does.”
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