It is the latest development about the next title that adapts the universe of the literary franchise
Harry Potter is a franchise that keeps expanding. Since the release of the first book, the universe created by author J.K. Rowling has added new adaptations in different formats. Video games are no exception and next year the new title will be added to the history known as Hogwarts Legacy.
This week it became known that the game will allow its players to create trans characters. According to reports, users will be able to give their avatars “female” or “male” voices no matter what their body is like. The information was granted by a source that is part of the development team, but preferred to remain anonymous.
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This decision does not come in any context: the author of the literary saga made, on more than one occasion, transphobic comments through her social networks. Rowling is an advocate for the concept of “real sex” and does not consider trans women to be considered women.
Since the social networks had already been alerted on several occasions to some content that JK had liked that they were going in tune with her now known position. But her first public expression was when she decided to defend Maya Forstater, a woman who was kicked out of her job for holding a hate speech against the trans community. She believes that she was defending the rights of women (only those who were born to be that way, of course).
The woman argues that you can’t change sex. In her own words, “women grow up to be women. Boys grow up to be men. No change of clothing, hairstyle, plastic surgery or hormone treatment can transform a woman into a man or a man into a woman.”
From its social networks and platforms with a reach of millions of people, and being aware of the relevance that its place gives it as the head of one of the largest and most successful franchises in history, Rowling decided to support that positioning and marked that no woman should lose her job by arguing that there is a “real sex”.
In exactly the same line of thought, the author called on everyone to dress as they want or give themselves whatever name they like. What this argument hides, which could pass for understanding with the trans community, is a reductionism and an underestimation of the different and complex aspects that each person’s identity involves.
Although Warner Bros. clarified that Rowling did not participate in the process of creating the game, it was explained from Bloomberg that the teams involved in the development would have asked for the title to be as inclusive as possible. This requirement would have led them to include that level of customization of the protagonists.
However, it is not the only “controversy” that involved the game. During the last few weeks, it was learned that Troy Leavitt, one of Hogwarts Legacy’s producers, had a YouTube channel (inactive since 2018) in which he had posted a large number of videos with sexist poses in which he directly attacked feminism and others in which he questioned different social causes.
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The contents had the most diverse positions: from defending men accused of harassment to defending the users who were at the helm of Gamergate, a campaign that involved the mistreatment of women who are part of the video game industry. He also referred to the #MeToo as “moral panic.”
The new title of the wizard franchise was presented as an immersive open-world role-playing game that is set in the world the author created through the book saga. Players will be able to explore new and familiar places, discover fantastic animals, customize their character, prepare potions, master spells, improve talents and become the wizard or witch they want to be.
It will be set in the 19th century and the main character will be a student who “holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to destroy the magical world” and who can master ancient magic. So players are going to have to decide what to do with that power to define their legacy in that universe.
The game has no precise release date, but would reach consoles and PCs during 2022.