Let's Talk About Video Game Boycotts and Ethical Consumption

thegamer.com:

After being announced nearly two years ago - and leaked almost two years before that - Hogwarts Legacy was finally revealed during this week’s PlayStation State of Play. What could have been an exciting time for life-long Harry Potter fans has become a moral quagmire thanks to JK Rowling’s unwavering commitment to the persecution of transgender people. Now that Rowling has become the figurehead of a hate group, we can’t just buy a Harry Potter game without grappling with the social and ethical ramifications of supporting her media empire. Some have called for a boycott of Hogwarts Legacy and Harry Potter, while others remain committed to the franchise, believing that certain nuances of business will allow them to enjoy the Wizarding World while keeping their hands clean.

This isn’t the only boycott conversation the gaming community has had in recent memory. A similar debate spawned out of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit and provoked many to call for a boycott of Diablo 2: Resurrected. The arguments made then were largely the same as the arguments being made now. We’ll undoubtedly have the same exact conversation again when Hogwarts Legacy, Overwatch 2, and Diablo 4 come out, too. The discourse is circular and unending, but I’ve arrived at a position that has the power to free us all from spending the rest of our lives fighting the same social media battle every time a company or person in games does something to compromise the ethics of their work. Here it is: boycotts don’t work, but you still have a moral imperative to oppose harm when you see it.

It may not be the most satisfying conclusion, but it’s true. Video game boycotts have never and will never work, and we have decades of evidence to prove it. Modern Warfare