Hogwarts Legacy To Allow Trans Characters

Look here, Joanne: You know I don’t like you, and there would be a good chance you wouldn’t like me. I can live with the latter, but you being an attention-seeking Twitter goblin, you probably don’t like that I’ve never enjoyed your cheap magic take on Superman in the body of a 12-year-old. For those of you that have been living under a rock, Joanne’s comments on Twitter tend to be about wishing your poos away being commonplace at the made-up magic school and that trans women aren’t, apparently, women. It turns out, telling your child/young-adult audience that has now grown up into wonderful gay(/lesbian), bi, trans, and the blanket “plus” that they aren’t accepted is a bad idea.

Those that are still clinging on to the series, no matter how much Joanne’s legacy is ruining it, are excited for Hogwarts Legacy. The latest Potter-based game most recently got a bit of a delay following its announcement last year; which came after years of rumors. Following that announcement, many were conflicted on whether to support the game given Joanne’s comments in the years preceding. This concern and general displeasure towards the announcement boiled into Warner Bros having to make it clear that she’s not connected with the project other than it being based on her previous works.

Now, according to a report by Jason Schreier of Bloomberg, the development team at Avalanche Software and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive are putting their money where their mouths are. In the report, Scheier notes that those close with the game state you’ll be able to pick masculine or feminine voices no matter the type of body you pick. The gender norm of “Boy or Girl” will be shirked for the thematically apt “Witch” or “Wizard.” That phrasing is typically set to the gender binary, but you could play with that in your head.

Scheier also notes the internal struggle some have had within the game’s development following Joanne’s heavily criticized comments. Several people on the team are reportedly fighting to make the game as inclusive as possible following these comments by the writer. They are going as far as to include trans characters. Though Scheier also notes the more recent issue with management’s problematic statements on feminism, “social justice,” and support for Gamergate – something I’ve been caught up in and still don’t fully understand, or care about.

Really, I am glad someone is taking the stand to make the game more inclusive for players, but the damage is already done. Many are either publicly or privately stating they are swearing away from Hogwarts Legacy, with the probability of several of them privately hiding their pre-orders. If you want to play it, you are going to somehow anyway: Donating to charity to clear your conscience, noting you don’t have one and ignoring the controversy, or simply waiting for a second-hand copy.

I’m not going to say you are right or wrong for wanting to play it, I have some want to myself (even if I hate the series), but you are going to do you. Here is just hoping that the open-mindedness of the developers breaks through and makes the series a little more inclusive than the writer currently is.