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About as hyped as it is controversial, Hogwarts Legacy is a game that easily could have been the biggest and most popular release of 2023.
Instead, it has landed right at the centre of a fierce debate about the rights of trans people.
Hogwarts Legacy, the first major video game from the “Harry Potter” empire in years, got is long-awaited public release on February 10.
The ability to explore Hogwarts castle and the grounds surrounding it in an open-world narrative that predates the original stories had been longed for by many fans of the original series.


But the launch has been soured by the transphobic online presence of author J.K. Rowling, whose criticism of trans women and trans activists have sparked calls for a complete boycott of this role-playing game.
Time and again, the 57-year-old has spoken out against the social and legal equality of trans women with women who were already born with female sex organs.
Even “Harry” actor Daniel Radcliffe has distanced himself from the author.
In Scotland, where Rowling is involved in an initiative against violence against girls and women, the debate is particularly heated, notably since the regional government passed a law to simplify the long, bureaucratic process of gender reassignment in official documents.
I found a lot of solace in the series and it’s something I can’t shake. It’s part of who I am
Transgender Potter enthusiast Asher Chelder
Critics like Rowling claim that the law facilitates men’s access to spaces where women undress and are vulnerable. The Conservative British central government wants to block the changes.
Because of its close association with Rowling, there have long been vocal calls to boycott Hogwarts Legacy.
The gaming forum ResetEra has banned any mention of the game, and the website GameSpot published an essay about Rowling’s “anti-transgender stance”.
Others gaming media have meanwhile reflected a torn gaming scene, eager to explore Hogwarts but reluctant to indirectly fund Rowling’s campaign against trans women.
Rowling herself is demonstratively calm. Asked how she was coping with losing so many fans because of her stance, she wrote drily on Twitter in October 2022: “I read my most recent royalty cheques and find the pain goes away pretty quickly.”
The game’s developers at Avalanche are acutely aware of the delicate subject, and have even noted that Rowling is not directly involved in the game’s development.

However, developers did work closely with Rowling’s team, they admit, and the company says the author is “one of the world’s greatest storytellers”.
Hogwarts Legacy is by no means the first game to be spawned from Rowling’s wizarding world, but it is the first major one in about a decade, and it had the potential to be the biggest and best-reviewed game yet.
The game takes players back to Hogwarts decades before the events of the Harry Potter books, allowing them to slip into the robes of a freshly placed student at the wizarding school at a time when a nefarious dark arts threat is rising.
The game’s character editor lets you choose voice, gender and appearance (now often standard in role-playing games), and a trans woman plays a larger supporting role.
Harry Potter: ‘Quidditch’ leagues to change name to ‘distance from Rowling’
For all its efforts, the boycott campaign does not seem to be halting the game’s potential for success.
Millions of people recently watched streamers playing the game on Twitch, and according to the site steamdb.info, Hogwarts Legacy has been one of the bestselling titles for weeks – even before it was released.
According to opencritic.com, the game has so far been receiving very favourable reviews. Gaming reporter Martin Kimber called the game a “beautifully crafted love letter” to the Potter universe.
Many fans are torn.
Transgender Potter enthusiast Asher Chelder of fan site MuggleNet admitted to Sky News that Rowling’s views hurt people.
But he has been looking forward to the game since it was announced. “I found a lot of solace in the series and it’s something I can’t shake. It’s part of who I am.”


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J.K. Rowling trans row unlikely to derail Hogwarts Legacy video game that lets Harry Potter fans explore wizarding school

Visitors walk past a screen showing an excerpt of a film during the opening of a Harry Potter exhibition in Vienna. Almost 25 years after the release of the first book in the Harry Potter series, and beyond the films and other derivative products, it is the turn of the video game “Hogwarts Legacy” to rekindle the flame of the Potter universe. Photo: AFP

Actor Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter on screen, has distanced himself from J.K. Rowling. Photo:@cineasimetrico/Twitter

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Entertainment

It could be the biggest game release of 2023, but gamers are divided about Hogwarts Legacy because of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s stance on trans rights
Some gaming forums are boycotting it but it sold heavily ahead of launch, with fans drawn to explore the wizarding school decades before Harry’s time


Hogwarts Legacy is the first major game from the Harry Potter empire in years, and would be a guaranteed success but for Potter author’s views on trans women. Fans are torn.


LGBTQ