Hogwarts Legacy Will Add Transgender Character, Following JK Rowling Controversy

GAMEFINITY.ID, Jakarta – The next Harry Potter game, Hogwarts Legacy will reportedly free players to create transgender characters. According to a Bloomberg report citing an anonymous source at Warner Bros. studio Avalanche, several members of the game’s developer have struggled to make the game as inclusive as possible, in response to comments from series writer JK Rowling.

In the past year, Rowling has been criticized for making several deemed transphobic comments on her Twitter account. This was echoed by several Harry Potter film actors, including lead actors Emma Watson and Eddie Redmayne, who publicly voiced their support for the transgender community.

Several members of the Avalanche team have also encouraged transgender characters to be added to the game. Later when players start the game they can create a character who has a masculine or feminine voice regardless of body type, while the choice of “witch” (woman witch) or “wizard” (male witch) will determine the dormitory where their character is placed.

“Initially there was resistance from management. But now character customization is included in the game,” said the anonymous source.

In addition to Rowling’s comments, Hogwarts Legacy has also come under fire after lead designer Troy Leavitt runs a reactionary YouTube channel that publishes videos criticizing feminism and social justice.

As reported by journalist Liam Robertson, one of Leavitt’s content that is quite controversial is a video that calls the #MeToo movement a “moral panic”. Another video belittling sexual harassment allegations made against Pixar’s former CCO, John Lasseter. Leavitt also expressed his support for Gamergate, a movement that promotes harassment of women and minorities in the gaming industry.

One of the largest independent video game forums on the internet, Resetera has launched a Hogwarts Legacy boycott campaign, in response to “bigot” comments made by Leavitt and Rowling.

As previously reported by.ID, Warner Bros. Interactive has postponed the Harry Potter RPG game Hogwarts Legacy until 2022. Previously, this game was expected to be released this year for the last and next generation consoles, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X / S, and PC.