In just over 72 hours we will have the opportunity to play Hogwarts Legacy, one of the most anticipated video games of this 2023. Avalanche Software’s production is the most reserved on Steam at the moment, not to mention that what has been seen looks pretty good. However, its release is surrounded by a lot of controversy, but where does it come from?
Let’s go by parts. The first thing the user should know is that the universe where the story of Hogwarts Legacy takes place is the same as that of Harry Potter. In other words, it responds to the rules created by J. K. Rowling in the novels of the famous wizard (and her movies, which is where she gave the real boom among the public). Thanks to this, we will have at our disposal both spells and animals known from that world, as well as those elements most representative of the Hogwarts culture, its teachers and its surroundings, beyond the fact that the game is set in 1890 -long before the events of Harry Potter- and takes the relevant licenses.
So far so “normal”, but now comes the controversy. The British writer J. K. Rowling is widely known for her statements against the transgender community. It is not something sporadic, that she said it once in a medium for which there are hardly any sources left or that can be taken out of context: every time she is asked about it, she speaks openly, in great detail. And in case there was any doubt, she also expresses it in her social networks, where it is common for her to set Twitter on fire for her outbursts of tone since she exposed the first of them in 2020.
With all this behind them, tens of thousands of gamers have called for a boycott of Hogwarts Legacy. Now, the question arises: has the author been involved in the development?
A “yes” but “no”
Let’s be blunt for the avoidance of doubt: J.K. Rowling has not been involved in the development of Hogwarts Legacy. The Warner Bros. owned team since 2017 has been working without the English author meddling in its production. However, now the question arises: does J. K. Rowling see money from this game? And the answer is “yes.”
As it is obvious, when assigning the rights of the Harry Potter universe to create a video game, this will see a corresponding economic amount. Everything under the seal of Harry Potter and Wizarding World has its economic impact, so the only question that remains is whether a fixed payment has been made or if there is an amount for royalties. It may be more the latter than the former, since the sales that the game will generate will be in the millions, but we would bet that there may even be both (a fixed payment plus commissions on sales). For the moment, no one from the studio has taken a position in this regard, nor from the magician’s parent company.
Scheduled for release during 2021, Hogwarts Legacy was delayed twice: first for 2022, and then in 2022 it was postponed to 2023. On February 10, we will finally have the opportunity to enjoy it for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Xbox X Series | S. The Nintendo Switch version is scheduled for July 25 of this year.
