Amid calls for a boycott, Hogwarts Legacy controversy questions what it means to be a Harry Potter fan
The night before visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood, Brittany Katter wondered whether the journey was a mistake.
The Harry Potter universe created by author JK Rowling has been a part of her life for nearly 25 years, but renewed controversy around the author and a new video game based in her world gave Katter pause.
She had long put off a visit, but her deep attachment to the fantasy world eventually won out.
“I started reading Harry Potter when I was 11,” Katter, 36, said as she unwrapped a new wand in one of the theme park’s hidden alleyways.
“It pretty much represents an escape and a safe place. I started listening to it as an adult again, and it was a complete stress relief during a tumultuous time.”
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But more than two decades after the first book’s release, not every reader who grew up envisioning the halls of Hogwarts and sipping on Butterbeer in Hogsmeade still considers the world of Harry Potter a safe space.
For weeks, a battle has brewed among gamers as parts of the community have called for a boycott of Hogwarts Legacy, a game set roughly 100 years before the events of the Harry Potter books.
The debate, first sparked when the game was announced in 2020 and renewed amid its release this month, centres on a moral question: Can fans support Hogwarts Legacy and the Harry Potter franchise while also condemning Rowling‘s comments on transgender people and gender identity? Rowling’s comments for the sake of
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