Rowling’s Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy and the Culture War

P. P. Zhang

You wouldn’t think an action role-playing game about magic and LGTBQ rights have anything in common but Hogwarts Legacy has done just that. The game is a fresh new chapter of old lore, taking a dive into the Harry Potter Universe. Hogwarts Legacy was released just a week ago on the 10th of February, and three days earlier for early access. It’s available on a variety of platforms, ranging from $60 to $100. Despite the mediocre gameplay, the game has received widespread acclaim, predicted to be the biggest-selling premium release this year. Part of this can be attributed to the frenzy around the Wizarding World, but there is a slightly more sinister reason for its notoriety in the gaming sphere. 

It all goes back to the controversies surrounding J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, who has become infamous for her views surrounding transgender people. Previously, Rowling was, in fact, a vocal gay rights supporter, before speaking up against the erasure of the concept of sex, which led to her cancellation by many critics. Now, we’re not here today to talk about whether the author was being transphobic, rather whether the subsequent boycotts on Hogwarts Legacy are justified. Many boycotters have shamed streamers and other gamers for promoting and playing the game, in an effort to potentially cripple sales. This attempt backfired, instead propelling the game’s popularity and sales upwards, as is the effect of most controversial topics. Within the game, it’s clear that the developers have made a conscious attempt to try to be inclusive: the character customisation is ethnically extensive and there is further ethnic and gay and transgender representation in NPCs (Non-Player Characters). What’s more, Rowling herself did not actually have any input whatsoever into Hogwarts Legacy, and the characters in the game are completely independent of those in her series. All this begs the question of whether content should be separated from the creator, and further, whether products reflect the morality of the consumer.

Hogwarts Legacy is the newest controversy in an increasingly widespread culture war. A year ago, Mars Wrigley Confectionery announced their redesign of the iconic M&Ms characters, in an attempt to be more inclusive and diverse. In January this year, the “spokescandies” were scrapped altogether, as a result of being too polarising, and instead replaced with a neutral spokesperson. In the same month, Scooby-Doo remake Velma received a shockingly low IMDb rating of 1.3/10. Its redesign of the much loved franchise seemingly tries to please all sides of the political and social spectrum, but instead appeals to none. Are these examples all instances of wokeness gone too far? Writing this article was reminiscent of a similar one I wrote last year, also on the topic of wokeness. Once again, it seems time that we ask the question: Has the line between wokeness and brain rot been crossed?