quick PSA about the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy videogame.
i’m not here to tell you what to buy or not buy (that ultimately is down to you) but if you’ve seen the post going round tumblr from somebody claiming to be a developer on Hogwarts Mystery telling you to buy the game to support the devs, don’t listen to it. here’s why.
1. everybody who worked on that game has already been paid in advance. making videogames isn’t like selling earrings on etsy – everybody involved was paid – as they worked – to write, code, model, voice-act, draw, and overall develop this game. nobody will be going hungry if you do not buy this game.
2. the post very correctly states that not buying the game won’t directly harm Rowling, which is true… however, the decision to boycot Hogwarts Legacy should not be one aimed specifically at the contents of Rowling’s bank account. the message one is trying to send buy not buying this game is “hey, stop working with transphobes. it’s unprofitable for you and i don’t trust you as long as you work with her and her brand.” it doesn’t matter that she wasn’t involved, it is public knowledge now that Rowling is a terf and standing with her brand is going to evoke that. to reiterate, Rowling’s money is not the point of a boycott. the point is to tell anybody who works with her & her brand “hey, fuck you, and fuck your company”. we are holding the company accountable for working with her.
3. many people have, again, correctly stated that the individual programmers involved with this game probably had no say on whether they worked on the project, and that all of the negotations for this game probably existed long before it was public knowledge that Rowling was a terf. this is true – the game was first leaked at a seemingly very far-along build in 2018 (late enough in development that it appeared to have something resembling gameplay and elements that seem unchanged to this day) which, if we account for the time working on and developing the game before that, suggests the game has been in development for at least a year earlier than that, probably longer. this, however, is irrelevant because by boycotting the game one is NOT boycotting individual graphics designers, artists and programmers – they’re already paid, remember? – one is boycotting a company (who has already received money to develop the game from Warner Bros, that’s how videogame development works) who can either continue to work with Mrs. Rowling and her brand, or cease to.
4. whilst the particular (possible) dev in mention thinks we should all buy the game, interviews from other devs leaking aspects of Hogwarts Legacy from earlier this year suggest that many of the people working on the game would not like to be and are very dismayed by having to work on the game whilst Mrs Rowling’s opinions on minorities loom over them. rather than leaving them without pay, deciding to boycot the game would be showing these individuals solidarity whilst they are directly affected by Mrs Rowling’s horrible legacy.
like i said. it’s your choice whether to get the game or not, but if you decide to, no amount of matching a trans charity donation to the cost of the game, no amount of extending solidarity to trans people in your community or fandom, etc… none of that will change your choice to align yourself ideologically, ecnomically and culturally to the world’s most famous TERF.
