Hogwarts Legacy: Why are people boycotting one of the biggest games of the year?
“It’s people like you that are making the world a worse place.”
That’s one of the milder pieces of feedback Maysa Pritilata has received for encouraging people not to buy the upcoming video game Hogwarts Legacy.
Widely expected to be one of the biggest games of the year so far when it launches this week, it gives players the chance to become their own witch or wizard in JK Rowling‘s fantasy world.
It’s the first release in more than a decade of a major new Harry Potter game. It’s also the first big new game in the franchise since Rowling’s stance on transgender rights became a subject of public debate.
Search for the game online and you don’t have to look far to find opposition among the excitement; a Twitter video encouraging people to boycott has amassed more than nine million views; gaming forum ResetEra has banned all mention of the game; major site GameSpot published an essay about Rowling’s “anti-transgender stance”; and a fundraiser asking people to donate to a trans charity instead of buying the game has amassed more than £6,000.
For Maysa, a trans woman whose article about Hogwarts Legacy for openDemocracy brought vitriol to her inbox, it makes the decision to boycott an easy one.
“I love video games,” she says.
“I’m not boycotting it because I think my money is going to seriously harm the publisher, Warner Bros, or Rowling.
“But why would I do it to myself? Why would I do it to other people, who would feel like I’m validating the game?”
JK Rowling stands to earn royalties from Hogwarts Legacy
Trans fan ‘found solace’ in Potter
Since writing about her stance, Maysa’s inbox has regularly housed abusive messages from people who are excited about the game and support Rowling.
But not everyone who feels hurt by Rowling’s views can so easily brush her most famous creation aside.
“As a fandom, we have been looking forward to this game before it was even announced,” says Asher Chelder, a transgender Potter fan who admits his relationship with the franchise is “complicated”.
“I found a lot of solace in the series and it’s something I can’t shake. It’s part of who I am.”
Asher, who is part of the social media team at Potter fan site MuggleNet, is certainly not alone in his excitement.
But while many of those who have pre-ordered have done so out of pure anticipation, others say they’ve done so to spite the boycott movement or to show support for Rowling.
Asher says he was once one of “many LGBTQ people who looked up to Rowling”, whose views now “genuinely hurt people”.
The author is widely considered a champion of women’s rights, but has also been increasingly criticised for her stance on trans issues, especially since 2020, including her views on single-sex spaces and Scotland’s gender recognition reform bill.
Representatives for Rowling, who denies being transphobic, declined to comment when contacted by Sky News.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Scotland’s gender bill explained
‘This is an important moment’
In the US, where Human Rights Watch has warned that a record number of anti-LGBTQ bills were filed by state politicians in 2022, there is also opposition to Hogwarts Legacy.
“This is an important moment to stand in solidarity with a very marginalised group with a large target on their back,” says game developer Brianna Wu, who received death threats in 2014 during the gamergate scandal – a misogynistic online campaign against women in the industry.
A former developer on Hogwarts Legacy, Troy Leavitt, left the project in 2021 after it emerged he had posted videos defending the campaign. He said he had resigned despite being “absolutely secure in my position”.
Fans can create their own witch or wizard. Pic: WB Games
Separating art from the artist
Warner has confirmed that Rowling was not directly involved in the creation of the game, but states they “collaborated closely” with her team on the project in an FAQ page on the game’s website.
Actor Sebastian Croft, who provides one of the voices players can choose for their character, claimed he did not know about her views when he accepted a role. He joins Potter film stars like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson in speaking out against Rowling’s comments.
It comes after the publisher was accused of trying to distance itself from the author while promoting projects like last year’s reunion special and its studio tour attraction in Leavesden.
The latter saw Sky News blocked from asking Potter actor Tom Felton about Rowling at a media event. Warner subsequently said that was “wholly wrong”, hailing Rowling as “one of the world’s most accomplished storytellers”.
“We are proud to be the studio to bring her vision, characters, and stories to life now – and for decades to come,” a statement said.
Warner did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Hogwarts Legacy from Sky News.
Read more:
The PR attempt to separate JK Rowling from Harry Potter
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
JK Rowling censorship row explained
‘No real way to erase her’
The dilemma is one grappled with on a daily basis by Asher and his colleagues at MuggleNet, the world’s oldest Potter fan site, which launched back in 1999.
It now hosts a page outlining its dedication to trans people, stating that Rowling’s views are “out of step with the message of acceptance and empowerment” in her books.
Creative director, Kat Miller, tells Sky News: “We are all cognisant of the fact that she created this world, and there’s no real way to erase her from that – and that’s not our goal.
“But… it’s not only her views that are bothersome, but the fact she doesn’t listen to people who are consistently telling her she’s causing harm.”
For Asher, distancing Rowling from her work makes it easier. He is still planning to play the game, but accepts that “people might hate” him, and that some LGBTQ people might not understand his actions. A view, he says, they have every right to.
“I’m just glad at the very least Rowling’s been separated from it as much as she can.”
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
More entertainment news:
Paris Hilton’s home destroyed in fires
RuPaul pays tribute to The Vivienne
Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway