It’s no secret that Avalanche Software’s latest release, Hogwarts Legacy, has been met with some extremely heavy criticism. Most of which is by all accounts directly tied to the author whose Wizarding World the game is based on, J.K. Rowling. An author who was once someone who created escapism for those that felt outcasted from the world around them has most recently become nearly as villainous to many, as the evildoers she writes about in her stories.
She’s mired the world of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts, and even Hogwarts Legacy for all who once loved them, myself included. And the boycott of the game by the Transgender community and its allies has been felt around the world. But on the side of those rooting for and enjoying the game, there’s nothing to boycott, as Rowling has apparently had no hand in creating the game.
So then there’s nothing to be worried about right? We should just go out, buy it, and enjoy it, knowing that Rowling had nothing to do with its creation. If only it were that black and white though. There are a few things to unpack that many folks may not know about, so let’s talk about them and why Hogwarts Legacy’s distance from J.K. Rowling is as fictional as the Wizarding World itself.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Distance from J.K. Rowling is as Fictional as The Wizarding World Itself
Blood Libel: The Video Game
Since its release, Hogwarts Legacy has notoriously been a new weapon for anti-trans hate with cyber-bullying and even violent threats being used with the game at its center. What’s just as harrowing though is that the game also has ties to some other troubling subject matter with parallels to real-world tragedies. And the comparisons are so easy to see that it makes one wonder how this could have possibly been unintentional.
As it’s widely known, the goblins in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World are quite obviously modeled in both appearance and profession of banking in the stereotype of Jewish people. It’s a truly insensitive gesture that’s made even worse as goblins are an enslaved race in Hogwarts Legacy who are seen as the enemy since they’re rebelling against the wizards enslaving them.
It’s enough to question whether or not Avalanche was telling the truth that Rowling had no creative hand in Hogwarts Legacy. It’s especially muddied when they state that they worked closely with Rowling’s creative team but use wording that tries to frame it as if she had nothing to do with the game herself directly. Which, most people who know of her work will know that she had to have had some kind of creative hand in things since she’s very specific with her created Wizarding World.
To add insult to injury, the game which takes place in 1612 also lines up directly with a deadly riot that happened against Jewish people, with murders that shook the entire community. There just isn’t any way that this couldn’t have been intentional when there’s a year that’s so specific and comparable to the events of the game.
Related: Best Games to Play Instead of Hogwarts Legacy
A Trans Character With A Less than Sensitive Name
Then you have the other thing that players have stumbled across with the game’s only trans character. Though the character, a binary transgender woman Sirona Ryan runs the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade located in Hogwarts Legacy, there have been a few qualms with the “representation” that Avalanche Software actually brought to the table.
The first and most obvious is the character’s name. Sirona? I mean, her name alone misgenders her within the very first syllable; Sir. This feels blatantly transphobic and could definitely feel invalidating to any trans people that maybe did actually pick the game up or were actively following it. How could this not be a purposeful choice by the creative team?
And while the name Ryan can be used by any gender, her first name makes her last also stand out too. It’s just a total mess. Couple her name with the performance by Rebecca Root, an actress who actually is a binary trans woman in real life, whose vocal performance for the game may have been influenced by the director. Though that aspect is just speculation, it’s worth mentioning that many of her other performances are just much more different in tone than what Avalanche had her do for Hogwarts Legacy.
But again, all of this also feels like something Rowling could, and most likely did have a hand in. The Wizarding World is her baby, and whether we like her or not, this is her world that she wants to carry on adding to. It’s just unfortunately one that’s revered the world over for its pop-culture status. It’s even more unfortunate that Avalanche has seemingly made it a successful game as well.
Every Little Detail
Other aspects of Hogwarts Legacy that make players wonder whether or not Rowling had any input in the game has to do with all of the little minute details throughout the expansive world that the game takes place in. It really is an impressively detailed game with things that weren’t even visually shown in detail throughout any of the films thus far.
These details are impressive enough to also toss in some doubt that what Avalanche has stated is entirely true. It’s one thing for them to be working with Rowling’s team of creatives, as they’d bring ideas to the table and know what would and what wouldn’t work. It’s another to work directly with said problematic author, though they would be able to give deeper detail and/or flesh things out more thoroughly for the game in order to bring them to life. And this is seemingly what has happened here.
So, whether you’re a fan or not of J.K. Rowling, it’s plain to see that she has most likely been orchestrating behind a curtain with Avalanche Software, similar to how the Wizard does in the Wizard of Oz. Though we will almost certainly never get that answer as clearly as we’d like, it doesn’t diminish the fact that Hogwarts Legacy is thriving, even though the creator of the Wizarding World is also busy trying to ruin the lives of one of the most attacked marginalized groups in the world. And that’s really scary, specifically for the transgender community as a whole.
So, that’s my take on how J.K. Rowling actually has some connection to Hogwarts Legacy, other than the fact that she created the Wizarding World. Too many things point directly to choices that can easily be connected to her and her views on the Transgender community and the antisemitic portrayal of goblins. For more hot news on controversial games or subjects, check out even more of our content too, such as “The Most Controversial Games of All Time (2023)”. And for the latest news, guides, and reviews, be sure to like Gamer Journalist on Facebook as well to get everything that you can!
