Cognition Dissemination: Don’t Fall for the Hogwarts Legacy Redemption Tour (Updated)

Hogwarts Legacy, the upcoming action RPG from Avalanche Software and Warner Bros. Games that will take place in the universe kicked off by the Harry Potter series, will have a trans-inclusive character creator according to a report from Bloomberg. It will allow for players to choose a voice and body type while ignoring assigned genders. There’s a good reason why this is being revealed now, and it’s only the start of what will be a lengthy campaign.

The developer and publisher duo will do everything they can to make sure potential players forget about the terrible people associated with, and who could profit off of, this game and the Harry Potter brand.

There’s creator JK Rowling, who fully removed the mask to reveal the TERF (or “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist” — what a feminist becomes when they really hate transgender women) she always was after trying and largely failing to hide it on social media for years. The reveal came as a surprise for several fans given Rowling’s previous support for progressive causes, though she’s far from the first prominent feminist to sacrifice much of what they stood for out of hatred for transwomen. She was condemned by actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, who played Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Grainger in the movie series, respectively, when she first revealed her thoughts, along with a slew of trans and non-TERF feminist activists. But it’s clear there’s no going back for her at this point.

As the creator of the world of Hogwarts, there’s a near-guaranteed chance that Rowling will get royalties from Hogwarts Legacy’s sales. There is no divorcing her from the world she created, regardless of how many development team members at Monolith and Harry Potter fans would love to think otherwise.

Speaking of the developers: It was revealed weeks ago that lead designer Troy Leavitt has a YouTube channel full of pro-GamerGate and right-wing videos. The video thumbnails resemble a parody of what right-wing YouTube channels look like. But trust me when I say they’re full of horrendous views about activists and feminists like Anita Sarkeesian and Zoe Quinn, two top GamerGate targets, and other matters like cultural appropriation and comically inane defenses of “Gamers.” It’s all exactly what you’d expect from an alt-right type.

I know this is just shocking but the lead designer of Hogwarts Legacy is Troy Leavitt, a far right YouTuber who used to make anti-fem and pro GG vids: https://t.co/kDNm9ri9zH pic.twitter.com/w3dDy0YXe4

— Liam (@liamrobertson.bsky) (@Doctor_Cupcakes) February 20, 2021

In response to the discovery of a YouTube channel about topics that could further alienate a portion of Hogwarts Legacy’s intended audience, Warner Bros. has done… nothing whatsoever. Leavitt, in fact, says in more than one of his videos that WB knows of the channel, and didn’t appear to mind them. There’s an apt word for this, and it’s “complicity.” And before anyone thinks he might have changed his views since last uploading a video to the channel, his Twitter likes confirm otherwise.

There was a point when people wondered why the gaming industry at large responded so tepidly to GamerGate and abhorrent misogynist and racist abuse when the issue first emerged. It was always a strong possibility that many people in these companies agreed with them all along.

It’s clear that several developers on the team aren’t terrible people who bask in spreading hatred, as the Bloomberg article and author Jason Schreier himself mentioned. But it’s impossible to divorce them from the two bad opinion havers we know about who will profit off this game, and potentially more we don’t know about. It’s true that there are likely terrible people associated with plenty more games that those concerned with social justice topics purchase, but it’s a different matter when it’s known that they’re associated with a product. Worse yet, no one around them intends to do anything about it.

Remember what I said about separating the art from the artist when discussing Rurouni Kenshin creator Nobuhiro Watsuki’s pedophilia and minimal consequences he faced for it: This is not possible for everyone, even when the work doesn’t propagate their worst views.

This announcement shows that Hogwarts Legacy’s promotional team will use the power of marketing to convince anyone concerned with social justice that they won’t have to feel guilty by purchasing this. There are those who agree with them on the development team, after all, and the game itself won’t espouse any overt right-wing ideologies. (Never underestimate the chance for something subtle to get by.) The character creator announcement is only the beginning, and the campaign will get more vigilant as the release date nears. Don’t forget who’s involved with it, and who will make money off it.

Update: Leavitt has now resigned from Avalanche Software, the timing of which following this post cannot be denied. None of you are ready for the intense discussions about him being “cancelled” by the “woke mob” that will soon ensue. There is no divorcing this game from Rowling, though.