Hogwarts Legacy’s announcement was a major one, not only because it followed from several leaks of the game over a prolonged period of time, but also because a big-budget AAA game based on the Harry Potter IP is something millions have been anticipating for years. The game has been part of a controversy since its announcement, though, with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling having beet met with backlash after several statements and remarks that were widely viewed as transphobic.
It has been reported in the past that many members of Hogwarts Legacy’s development team at Avalanche Software are none too happy about Rowling’s stance, while Warner Bros. themselves have also attempted to distance the game from the author, saying she has no direct involvement with the project. Now, it seems there has been another update to the situation.
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier reports that Hogwarts Legacy will allow for transgender character options in its character creator, with players being able to choose their character’s physical appearance, whether they will have a male or female voice, and whether they will be referred to as a witch or a wizard by characters in the game, with none of the options tied to each other.
According to Schreier, though there was “some resistance from management” toward this at first, several members of the development team pushed for the same in order to have a more inclusive game, especially in light of Rowling’s statements.
Hogwarts Legacy was recently delayed from its 2021 launch window, and is currently scheduled to release some time in 2022 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC.
