The boycotts against the “Harry Potter”-themed video game, “Hogwarts Legacy,” seem to have failed miserably.
Early sales numbers for the action role-playing game (RPG) developed by Avalanche Software show that it’s a huge hit with customers. In the first two weeks of the game’s debut, “Hogwarts Legacy” sold more than 12 million units, raking in more than $850 million in sales. That makes it the biggest global launch in Warner Bros. Games history and one of the fastest-selling video games of all time.
Many trans activists were opposed to the release of the game due to its association with creator J.K. Rowling and the likelihood that she would receive a portion of the royalties. Rowling is a staunch leftist feminist but has become incredibly controversial in recent years for questioning the trans agenda and accusing activists of ignoring the rights of women.
Avalanche Software had already begun working on the immersive RPG before the controversy with Rowling started. They’ve since tried to distance themselves from the drama, but the calls to boycott the game were pervasive anyway.
“J.K. Rowling was not involved in the creation of the game,” the FAQ page on the game’s official site says. “While remaining true to J.K. Rowling’s original vision, Portkey game developers chart new territory by creating fresh ways for fans to immerse themselves in the Wizarding World.”
The game’s creators also included a supposed trans-identifying character who says at one point in the game: “I was actually a witch, not a wizard.”
Even with these efforts, some video game reviewers were reluctant to post their opinions about Hogwarts Legacy or to even admit they had played it, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
“Hogwarts Legacy cannot and should not be judged solely on its own merits, because the end result of supporting this game financially and socially isn’t simply a matter of how much you’ll enjoy it, or how nostalgic it might be to experience the world of Harry Potter,” GamesHub reviewer Percy Ranson, who identifies as transgender, wrote of the game.
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“If you purchase this game — if you praise its qualities and encourage others to ‘support the developers’ or ‘treat yourself to a guilty pleasure’ — you are making a choice that will harm the transgender community, whether you want to admit it or not,” Ranson continued, echoing what many other critics were saying.
Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It will become available for other gaming systems in the coming months.