We have good news about the Harry Potter video game Hogwarts Legacy. According to a new report, the game will allow for character creation that gives transgender gamers the ability to see themselves in the game — no matter how they define themselves.
This news comes from Jason Schreier at Bloomberg, who has been tracking the game since it was merely a rumor. Schreier's sources revealed that users will be able "to create a character that has a masculine or feminine voice no matter what their body looks like."
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After that, gamers will decide their gender in a very Harry Potter way. You will pick one of two options — "witch" and "wizard" — and then that decides the dorm you get placed in and "how they are addressed by other characters in the game."
This appears to be an olive branch to fans who feel betrayed and scorned by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling's tweets on transgender people. For those unfamiliar with Rowling's statements, she's infuriated many in the transgender community and allies alike. For example, Rowling voiced support for Maya Forstater, a tax specialist who was fired for transphobic language, in December 2019.
Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson publicly stated that their views differ from Rowling's.
This wasn't the only controversy surrounding Hogwarts Legacy. In February 2021, journalist Liam Robertson revealed that far-right YouTube videos were produced by Troy Leavitt, the game's lead designer. Titles included "Pretty Polys: The Myth of the Male Gaze in Video Games," "In Praise of Cultural Appropriation" and another is focused on the "Social Justice Ten Commandments."
Hogwarts Legacy was originally set to arrive this year, but it was delayed until 2021.
