An upcoming video game dedicated to the Harry Potter book series will reportedly shrug off the controversy surrounding its author and allow players to make transgender characters.
Customization of a character’s physique and gender in Hogwarts Legacy will include the ability to give them a “masculine or feminine voice no matter what their body looks like,” according to a Bloomberg report. Players may then select a “witch” or “wizard” option to determine dorm and house placement at Hogwarts and how other characters refer to them.
Although it is not a new concept for modern video games, such as Call of Duty: Cold War, to allow players to customize their character’s gender and have virtual historical figures such as Ronald Reagan honor nonbinary pronouns, transgender characters in a Harry Potter video game adaption stand out as the bestselling book series author, J.K. Rowling, has stirred controversy in recent years with her controversial online posts about transgender people.
J.K. ROWLING’S LONELY FIGHT FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS
For instance, in June 2020, Rowling tweeted: “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.”
I respect every trans person’s right to live any way that feels authentic and comfortable to them. I’d march with you if you were discriminated against on the basis of being trans. At the same time, my life has been shaped by being female. I do not believe it’s hateful to say so.
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 6, 2020
The author’s comments sparked backlash from the gay community and others who viewed them as being transphobic. Harry Potter movie actors Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson spoke out in support of transgender people in the days after her missives caused a stir.
Jason Schreier, the reporter behind the Hogwarts Legacy story, tweeted that people with information about the video game leaked the previously unreported details of gender customization “because development of the game started long before Rowling’s anti-trans crusade, and because they’re sad and frustrated.”
It’s funny that people think that 1) game companies do controlled leaks and 2) if they did, they’d try to do it through me
The people leaking this news did it because development of the game started long before Rowling’s anti-trans crusade, and because they’re sad and frustrated
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) March 2, 2021
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Hogwarts Legacy, named after the fictional wizarding school in the books, is slated for release sometime in 2022. Its publisher, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and developer, Avalanche Software, did not immediately return a request for comment.
