Hogwarts Legacy, A Thrilling Game With A Controversial Shadow

Hogwarts Legacy is the latest hot new game to hit the market. It broke records on its release, but stirred up several debates online as a result. Hogwarts Legacy is an open world game, where you can traverse freely throughout the maps, rather than being confined to a quest based structure. Set in the world of the classic Harry Potter universe, seemingly capturing the magic of the original books and movies. It has been praised for its graphics quality and realism which is bolstered by its exquisite detail in the avatar and landscape design. It seemed nothing could stop this game’s rapid rise to the top of the gaming charts, except, there is.

Despite all the positive reinforcement that Hogwarts Legacy has been receiving it also attracted massive amounts of criticism from the gaming community. The big question is the involvement of J.K Rowling, a once universally beloved author of the Harry Potter franchise has recently turned off parts of her fan base by aligning herself with certain anti-trans and ultra feminist movements. This has called attention to Rowling’s portrayal of marginalized groups in her book series. Such as Cho Chang , Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Nagini.  “J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game, however, her extraordinary body of writing is the foundation of all projects in the Wizarding World,” said Warner Bros. This quote put much speculation to rest about her involvement in the game. However, it is known that she is receiving royalties from Hogwarts Legacy’s success.

This is a very notable game too not just for it’s stellar game play, but also because Warner Bros. is the only one of Hollywood’s major studios to produce their own games currently, blurring the line between game and film. Despite Rowling’s absence from the project,  it has failed to curb all of the controversy stirring within the game. The villain choice for Hogwarts Legacy was questionable, the goblins, a race in the Harry Potter universe that are seen as second class citizens and inferior to the wizards, are practically spitting images of Jewish and anti Semitic stereotypes. With hooked noses, longer fingers, and being the principal bankers of the Harry Potter universe, it is not a good look.

Moreover, an even worse look is the story line that the goblins are involved in. Basically, the goblins, tired of being oppressed by their adversaries, rise up and rebel against the wizards of the game, led by their leader Ranrok. This plays into the stereotype of Jews controlling things from behind the scenes through their power in the banks. Additionally, players have the option to crush the rebellion, which draws equivalents to putting down slave rebellions. Hogwarts Legacy really missed a chance to re-imagine the goblins of Rowling’s universe, to not embody the stereotypes of Jewish people, which would have avoided this controversy. Warner Bros. has indeed created a wonderful game, but it is important to know both the pros, and the cons of it.