Gaming News Companions, character creation… Hogwarts legacy more inclusive than JK Rowling?
In recent months, Avalanche Software has openly focused its communications on the magic of the universe and the locations of Hogwarts Legacy. But another important point that has emerged recently: playing in the Harry Potter universe will be inclusive. Varied profiles, non-gendered characters… Hogwarts Legacy seems to take the opposite of the usual triple A’s and even break with the controversial positions of its spiritual mother, JK Rowling.
summary
- Hogwarts, a school for all
- Hogwarts Legacy vs. JK Rowling: a disaccord genre
- A game that pays attention to its communication
Pre-order Hogwarts Legacy from E.Leclerc from $59.99
Hogwarts, a school for all
We recently discovered our fourth classmate, namely Amit Thakkar. So, after Slytherin, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, it was up to Ravenclaw to offer himself a worthy representative. And when fans of the universe immediately began discussing whether he would be a real companion (character with his own narrative and able to accompany us on our adventures), another detail was raised, specifically in the comments of the special article : the profiles presented are particularly varied. So we find a student from the witch school in Uganda and a student probably from Indian immigration. The characters in charge of character development did a good job too, searching for unfamiliar first names for westerners, such as Natsai, who is of Zimbabwean origin, and Amit, an Indian name particularly popular with Jewish boys .
While some may cry out for unabashed progressiveism (which more or less ironically highlights the presence of one and only white male in this handsome cast), it’s important to note that this diversity isn’t disjointed, quite the opposite. The UK is known as a multicultural country (particularly due to its many former colonies) and this is nothing new. So it would have been very strange to see an almost monochrome Hogwarts. For example, the Indian diaspora is very present in the UK. Created mainly after India’s independence in 1947, many of the country’s notables had already decided at the end of the 19th century to pack their bags for the head of the British Empire. The same is true of Uganda (Natsai’s rumored country of origin), which is a very young British colony at the time of the events of Hogwarts Legacy: Hogwarts Legacy.
Also, there were many characters in the Harry Potter books and films that represented different ethnicities, and that didn’t seem to bother anyone at the time. Well, we remember that. Katy Leung (Cho Chang on screen) has very bitter memories of the days of filming after dealing with a lot of racist comments online. In addition, Parvati, Cho, Dean or even Kingsley play supporting roles in the adventures of Harry Potter and his gang. Natsai, Amit, Poppy and Sebastian should be much more important characters, a bit like Ron and Hermione of our hero, giving them varied profiles and therefore all the more recognition. And speaking of Hermione, it’s important to remember the dissatisfaction (with a general racist bias) sparked by the play’s casting Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, in which Emma Watson gave way to black actress Noma Dumezweni. JK Rowling herself took the floor to denounce the remarks made by those she described as a “bunch of racists”. Surely she would be happy to confirm the existence of such different profiles in the Hogwarts Legacy game. When it comes to gender, however, the game seems to position itself against the differing positions of the creator of the Harry Potter universe.
Hogwarts Legacy vs. JK Rowling: a disaccord genre
As I’m sure you know, a call to boycott the Hogwarts Legacy game has been launched. The reason is simple: JK Rowling, who has repeatedly taken transphobic positions, will receive royalties on the game (although she’s not involved in its development). She also recently amused herself that although she had lost many readers and fans as a result of her comments, she slept easily thanks to her royalties review. Suffice it to say that despite the controversy, she’s not the type to hold back, which doesn’t help Warner’s business. deny call out frankly the author the editors had nevertheless had to speak up at the beginning of the year in view of the controversy and the serious threat of a boycott.
We would like to remind you that JK Rowling is not directly involved in the development of the game. We even add that in Hogwarts Legacy it will be possible to use inclusive options that allow the creation of trans characters. We will continue to focus on the game we made and the great work by Studio Avalanche. We want every one who loves the Harry Potter universe to love these stories and characters.
These inclusive options were also shown during the last gameplay presentation. And the least we can say is that Hogwarts Legacy isn’t limited to one genre. The players are visibly given a great deal of freedom without ever openly offering gender archetypes. You will not be asked if you want to embody a man or a woman, but choose one of the models offered or design your own. Thus, it is possible to have a protagonist with delicate facial features and a more feminine haircut, while giving him a masculine torso and a masculine voice. There are no real codes, so impersonating a transgender character is entirely possible.
Single gender element: qualification as a witch or wizard. We’re not talking about males or females, no biological element to consider here. It is important to know whether you want to be a witch or a wizard (necessary detail for the allocation of a dormitory). It may be the same for you, but this peculiarity is anything but trivial, especially in view of the ongoing controversies. And that means a lot for those affected. But that’s not enough.
Difficult for trans people or defenders of their cause to see their money pouring into the pockets of those who maliciously delight in fueling controversy over and over again on the subject. Essay on his vision of gender and sex, supporting figures fighting for LGB rights (as opposed to LGBT, which includes trans people), promoting a transphobic messaging business (“Trans activism is misogyny” or “Trans women are men”)… His positions were praised and endorsed even by particularly conservative politicians and Vladimir Putin. And between two controversies, she likes to write a book about a man who disguises himself as a woman to kill people. Suffice it to say that she did nothing to defuse tensions, revealing hurtfulness to a majority of her franchise’s fans, who nonetheless felt won to her cause… With her, Warner and Avalanche are definitely walking on eggshells.
A game that pays attention to its communication
And that’s a good thing, because the communication teams working on the title are particularly skilful and attentive. Without completely breaking away from the author, they manage to throw in a few details here and there that really change the game without seeming too heavy. They don’t overly support the inclusive side of their game. If Warner had committed to offering tools of this nature, the gameplay presentation didn’t address it at all, making it just one detail among many. Today it’s rare enough to be noticed. If such an approach is irritating, it is mainly because they are all too often perceived as being motivated by a selfish need wash pink
Aside from the fact that Chandler Wood is a particularly active and observant CM (check his Twitter account after each presentation, his zeal is remarkable), We believe that communication depends heavily on fan feedback. Do you remember the Hogwarts Legacy pitch? We were offered to follow the adventures of a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who had a somewhat special magic within him and needed to learn to master it, all against the backdrop of the goblin revolution. The focus during the first trailers was therefore on the antagonists of this game, namely Viktor Rookwood and the goblin Ranrok. You may have forgotten them for a while. The latter suddenly disappeared from the communication surrounding the title. While we still know very little about the context of Hogwarts Legacy, the teams turned to other details to introduce it, such as the famous companions, the teachers or the different spells.
This is only a hypothesis, but the controversy surrounding the depiction of goblins (considered anti-Semitic) may well have played a small role. Given the teams’ care not to offend fans, it’s difficult to dismiss this change of perspective as a simple coincidence. Just as it’s hard to imagine that they completely change the scenario of the title. Ranrok will certainly be present, perhaps a little less Manichaean than expected. But this brief pause on the com side made it possible to forget about this annoying controversy. Just as the current approach allows the engraving around JK Rowling’s utterances to be toned down a bit.
So yes, Hogwarts Legacy will obviously be a very inclusive game. And yes, this is hardly mentioned. So it’s a detail that many people won’t even pay attention to, but will mean a lot to those affected. An intention worth raising.
Pre-order Hogwarts Legacy from E.Leclerc from $59.99
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