Discourse on Hogwarts Legacy Prohibited at Resetera
Resetera, a gaming forum, has forbidden any discourse regarding the open world action-RPG Hogwarts Legacy, which is being developed at Avalanche Software. This upcoming Harry Potter game has been highly contentious since its announcement, with some celebrating while others advocating boycotts due to the transphobic remarks of J.K. Rowling.
The decision by Resetera to initially ban any discussion of Hogwarts Legacy promotional materials (trailers, gameplay videos, etc.) in 2021 was partly due to J.K. Rowling’s transphobic comments. Furthermore, the forum also noted the past comments of the game’s lead designer, Troy Leavitt, who created YouTube videos that seemed to support the Gamergate movement. As the game is getting closer to its release, Resetera moderators have now decided to prohibit any discussion of Hogwarts Legacy whatsoever.
General manager B-Dubs made an announcement on the Resetera site regarding J.K. Rowling’s views. According to the mods, not only were her views bigoted, but she was also “utilizing her wealth and fame to advocate for laws that damage the transgender community”. As a result of this, B-Dubs announced that there would be no discussion of Hogwarts Legacy allowed on the forum due to Rowling’s utilization of her Harry Potter money and fame to promote transphobic legislation.
Once a beloved series, both at the box office and in book sales, Harry Potter has been tarnished by the transphobic comments of J.K. Rowling. This has been evidenced by the floundering reception of the latest movie in the franchise, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, which has become the least successful of all the Harry Potter films. As a result, the future of the Fantastic Beasts movie series is now in doubt, with plans for five films uncertain.
Although some advocate for boycotting Hogwarts Legacy, it is unlikely that the game will suffer the same financial difficulties as other Harry Potter endeavors have in recent years. Even with boycotts and the controversy surrounding it, Hogwarts Legacy has a good chance of being the top-selling new game of 2023, especially if the Call of Duty series skips this year as has been rumored. Pre-order numbers are high, suggesting that many Harry Potter fans are still eager to play an open world game, despite J.K. Rowling’s comments and the other controversies associated with the project.
Hogwarts Legacy is set to release on February 10th for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X, and will be available on PS4 and Xbox One on April 4th. The Switch version is to follow on July 25th.