A new Harry Potter video game called Hogwarts Legacy is set to release and is available to pre-order on Amazon now. The game offers an immersive experience with the player who starts out as a novice wizard exploring Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, the Forbidden Forest and other landmarks from the franchise, reports Variety. However, Twitter users have been urging people not to buy the game because of the Harry Potter novels’ creator JK Rowling’s transphobic views, which she has aired out time and again. In the process, she has also estranged countless people who grew up with the books.
People also expressed concern regarding the plotline of the game, which involves suppressing a goblin rebellion. Many people believe that the act of suppressing a goblin rebellion is racially-coded. Goblins and house elves, in the Harry Potter universe, are considered lesser creatures and treated as such. Moreover, fans believe that buying the game is not just a moral stance but that it would also have real-world ramifications, where transphobes might stand to gain.
Now that the marketing machine is revving up, just a friendly reminder:If you buy that fuckin Harry Potter game, you're sending a crystal clear message to every trans person you know that getting to play the shiny new video game is more important than respecting our lives.
— The Italian Misato Katsuragi (@Blankzilla) August 26, 2022
don’t buy the new harry potter gamenot just because it supports transphobia by its very existence, but because it is 2022 and what are you doing with your life
— ✖️Miss Gender✖️ (@girldrawsghosts) August 28, 2022
I still can’t believe that the plot of this game has you suppressing a rebellion made up of the racially oppressed. https://t.co/844PuDmAY1 pic.twitter.com/0dKXBbSR7X— Feltheleb (@feltheleb) August 27, 2022
Cis people really don't get it. BUYING the new HARRY POTTER game tells COMPANIES that they can still pay MONEY to TRANSPHOBES without any ISSUE.— Lily Simpson has read too much Harry Potter lore (@LilySimpson1312) August 27, 2022
Once again for anyone who didn’t know:Harry Potter is the rare situation where choosing not to purchase it has a direct impact on the world around you
This game failing to be a big success will in fact help trans people by demonstrating being transphobic isn’t profitable https://t.co/HO7iLGaVyp
— Florence 🗝🗡 (@genderhitchiker) August 27, 2022
There remains a section on the Internet which has been expressing support for the game, if not for JK Rowling’s transphobic views. Hogwarts Legacy will release on February 10 next year.
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