On Hogwarts Legacy's Early Success [Feb 10, 2023, 11:51 am ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
CNN Business reports on the strong early success of Hogwarts Legacy
despite the facts that the game has been embroiled in controversy and its
official launch won't arrive for another couple of hours. But the Early Access
release for Digital Deluxe Edition customers began
on Tuesday,
and reportedly "already broke a record on Twitch for being the most-watched
single-player game." The article also has a summary of the background
controversy, and efforts by the creators of the game at distancing it from J.K.
Rowling's rhetoric:
Part of the game’s expectation is based on controversy surrounding Harry Potter’s creator — J.K. Rowling. The author has repeatedly made anti-trans comments, and some of the movies’ actors have spoken out against them. Some gamers also are boycotting Hogwarts Legacy over the controversy.
“It’s not a commercial risk so much as is a cultural one,” van Dreunen said of the game’s release.
The game features a trans character, a first for the franchise. Though the Hogwarts Legacy character Sirona Ryan does not explicitly say she is trans, dialogue in a scene suggests it: “[It] took them a second to realize I was actually a witch, not a wizard,” the character said.
Warner Bros. Discovery said creating diverse characters was a high priority in order to encompass all people who play the games including the LGBTQIA+ community.
The company says J.K. Rowling is not involved in the Hogwarts Legacy game. But she does stand to make licensing royalties. Some fans have been turned off to the franchise because of Rowling’s comments, others say they won’t let that get in the way of experiencing a new world of Harry Potter.
FloodAnxiety wrote on Feb 12, 2023, 13:05:GHOB wrote on Feb 12, 2023, 04:20:I understand the idea of separating the art from the artist, but when it comes to financial support, it's not just about appreciating the art. It's important to consider the actions and beliefs of the artist and how they might use their money and power to cause harm to marginalized communities. So while we can appreciate the art, our financial decisions can have consequences and should align with our values.
Long time reader, first time poster. I've watched the Harry Potter movies but I can't say that I'm any kind of a super fan.
If the controversy wasn't there, it probably wouldn't have showed up on my radar and now that I've been told by a bunch of people that it in fact is a good game, I may actually buy it.
No one is going to convince the other side that their side is right on the trans debate (Highly unlikely anyways). It's too bad that some people cant separate the art from the artist and appreciate the art for what it is. It's their loss I guess.
How much money does JKR make per copy? How valuable is supporting a game with a trans character? I dislike JKR but if the game interested me I'd buy it (the open world looks cool, but the gameplay and lore doesn't interest me). Maybe I'd throw a few bucks to a trans rights organisation, which would do far more good than any harm done by purchasing the game - which I suspect is approximately zero.
I find this whole situation dumb and overstated. The boycott is doing basically nothing, the backlash is doing basically nothing, it's just generating hot air.
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