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[Jason Schreier] Harry Potter Video Game Will Allow for Transgender Characters

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bing

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www.bloomberg.com

Harry Potter Video Game Will Allow Transgender Characters

The next Harry Potter video game will allow players to customize their character’s voice, body type and gender placement for the school dormitories, taking a stride toward inclusivity after several recent controversies stemming from comments by series creator J.K. Rowling that were seen as...
www.bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com
The next Harry Potter video game will allow players to customize their character's voice, body type and gender placement for the school dormitories, taking a stride toward inclusivity after several recent controversies stemming from comments by series creator J.K. Rowling that were seen as transphobic.
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Hogwarts Legacy is scheduled for 2022 release from publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc. and developer Avalanche Software. When players start up the game, they will be able to create a character that has a masculine or feminine voice no matter what their body looks like, according to people familiar with the game's development. The people requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to the press.
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Players will then get to select one of two options -- "witch" or "wizard" -- that will determine the dorm they get placed in at the magical school of Hogwarts and how they are addressed by other characters in the game.
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Although this level of customization has grown more common in video games and is no longer unusual, it's noteworthy for Hogwarts Legacy. Last summer Rowling made several comments that were widely viewed as demeaning toward transgender people and denounced by many, including Harry Potter film stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. The comments also rattled some people working on the game, Bloomberg reported. As a result, some members of the Hogwarts Legacy development team have fought to make the game as inclusive as possible, pushing for the character customization and even for a transgender character to be added. There was resistance from management at first, the people familiar with the project said, but currently the character customization is included in the game. A Warner Bros. spokesperson declined to comment.
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Harry Potter is one of the most lucrative franchises in entertainment. The film series is the third-highest grossing of all time, with $7.7 billion in revenue, while Rowling has sold more than half a billion books, more than any individual author in history.
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Last month, Hogwarts Legacy faced more controversy after gaming journalist Liam Robertson revealed that Troy Leavitt, a senior producer at Salt Lake City-based Avalanche, made dozens of YouTube videos attacking feminism and "social justice." He also expressed support for Gamergate, a loose community of gamers who harass journalists and game developers for voicing progressive views. ResetEra, one of the largest video game forums, enacted "a total ban on threads for promotional media" around Hogwarts Legacy in the wake of that discovery and Rowling's comments. Leavitt didn't respond to a request for comment.
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I thought this article might interest people on here, especially since it mentioned ResetEra. I assumed that this is not a promotional news article so it would be allowed. If it is not allowed feel free to close this thread.
 
Marcus Aurelius

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This definitely seems like an attempt to smooth things over for the sake of sales. They're probably seeing very low preorder trends.
 
Uzzy

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That's nice, still directly supporting Rowling's transphobic crusade with every purchase.
 
gabegabe

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A tiny step in the good direction, but not enough for me to forgive JK Rowling or that lead designer. Still won't buy it.
 
Helix

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good on them, but that lead designer needs to be reshuffled IMO
 
Klyka

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Schlorgan said:
How did the lead designer let this happen?.

Did they sneak it past him?
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"look at the news about our game. we need some positive buzz, not *gestures wildly* THIS"
"oh ok how about we give them what they want? We can still hate it behind locked doors?"
"yeah ok sounds good"

Gaming headlines: "Harry Potter game sells most copies of any game ever, heralded for it's inclusion of all customization options"
 
Consequence

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I sincerely hope that this does not change a single person's mind about the morality of supporting this game.
 
Lord Fanny

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Hmm, I was always under the impression that Rowling had veto power as part of her contract for any media under the Harry Potter umbrella. Maybe that was never true, because it's really hard for me to believe she would allow this if she had that power.
 
Karlinel

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While "total ban" could imply this thread gets locked, it's a small victory that the game (which will make profit for bigoted people) at least left a window for improving its record or at least not damaging trans people even more.
 
hydrophilic attack

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well it's good to see that online criticism does lead to some improvements. i still don't think i would want to buy this game and support the trashy people profiting off of it though
 
Rotobit

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Basically the equivalent of putting a bandaid on a rusty, leaky network of pipes but sure, it's a solid step.

They need to publically speak out about it at this point though.
 

DryCreek

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Oct 25, 2017
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Schlorgan said:
How did the lead designer let this happen?
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Schlorgan said:
Like this is great, but the lead designer seems like such a piece of shit that he wouldn't have allowed it in the game unless forced.
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Games are a huge team effort its very rare that a few people are allowed to dictate the direction of a game this big. being a lead designer doesn't mean what you think it does, you make some decisions but if the rest of your design team or your design director disagree then you will be overruled. Game dev is generally a collaborative effort.
 
Patitoloco

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Marcus Aurelius said:
This definitely seems like an attempt to smooth things over for the sake of sales. They're probably seeing very low preorder trends.
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Look, I don't enjoy anything that comes out of this.

But thinking this will sell remotely bad is just really really dumb. This will easily be one of the biggest games of the year it comes out.
People overestimate how much regular people care about the JK Rowling stuff, let alone knowing what the lead designer of a game has said.
 
krazen

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Bandage said:
Probably pretty easily as this is a good marketing tactic after all the bad press the development and source material has been getting.
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Yup. This is going to be their counterargument to much of the press where 'Hey, just play the game, its not anti-trans! It's not alt-right!'.

But i mean what does it mean. Is there an actual storyline if you're trans or is it the same generic character models they had on deck that just lets you chose/get called by pronouns. For all the links to the alt-right of the lead designer are they going to do a story line dealing with bigotry or is it going to be some 'somewhere in the middle!' tripe.
 
LordRuyn

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This pretty much sounds to me like a controlled leak from the studio. They are feeling the pressure and thought this would appease a lot of people.
I am not saying this is a good or bad idea, or whether it will work for that matter, only time will tell.
 

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Klyka said:
"look at the news about our game. we need some positive buzz, not *gestures wildly* THIS"
"oh ok how about we give them what they want? We can still hate it behind locked doors?"
"yeah ok sounds good"

Gaming headlines: "Harry Potter game sells most copies of any game ever, heralded for it's inclusion of all customization options"
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I think a lot of people forget, because so many people in the games industry are terrible people who double down, just how easy it is to just let something go and worry about something more relevant/pressing. It doesn't excuse him or anything. Just an obvious "whatever" moment for him
 
TheGhost

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As I mentioned in the main thread. Good on the devs there that pushed for this to happen. They are in a tough position with all their higher up's being shit but they still got it in.
 
Kalor

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It's nice that people on the team pushed for it despite management being hesitant but ultimately doesn't mean much considering Rowling will probably profit from sales and that lead producer is still working on the game, despite WB being aware of their comments.
 
GavinUK86

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Good to see the devs are also on the fuck JK Rowling train. I want this game to be good.
 
Cerulean_skylark

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Lord Fanny said:
Hmm, I was always under the impression that Rowling had veto power as part of her contract for any media under the Harry Potter umbrella. Maybe that was never true, because it's really hard for me to believe she would allow this if she had that power.
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she probably got them to add separate but equal bathrooms for the trans characters,

anyone who will support the game now despite all The endless attacks coming in left and right to trans people were probably never very upset. You're still supporting Rowling with every purchase just because of a token gesture.
 

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krazen said:
Yup. This is going to be their counterargument to much of the press where 'Hey, just play the game, its not anti-trans! It's not alt-right!'.

But i mean what does it mean. Is there an actual storyline if you're trans or is it the same generic character models they had on deck that just lets you chose/get called by pronouns. For all the links to the alt-right of the lead designer are they going to do a story line dealing with bigotry or is it going to be some 'somewhere in the middle!' tripe.
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It's pretty obviously the same game, just voice, gender, etc are all unlocked.
 
Vylder

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This game will be great, regardless of JK and the lead designer.
 
Rowsdower

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As others have said, it's nice that there are devs who are trying to push back, but supporting this game supports Rowling. I still won't be purchasing it.
 
CaptainBojangles

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Good on the devs for pushing to be as inclusive as they can, bit I still don't feel comfortable purchasing this when I know the money is going to JK
 
Fat4all

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honestly, i imagine JK won't react to this

she probably won't rock this boat knowing the money that can come in from it

plus contracts with WB, she has a working business relationship going with um

as long as she gets paid her percent, she likely won't care
 
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