IGN reviewer Travis Northup suggested that it could be unethical to play the latest "Hogwarts Legacy" action role-playing game because of J.K. Rowling in his Monday review.
The website released a lengthy review of "Harry Potter" game ahead of its release on Thursday. While the bulk of the article focused primarily on the game play, the review also featured a disclaimer in a box titled "Concerning J.K. Rowling."
"As critics, our job is to answer the question of whether or not we find Hogwarts Legacy to be fun to play and why; whether it’s ethical to play is a separate but still very important question," it said. "So just as in virtually all cases, we’re choosing to expose and address the views of the franchise creator separately from our consideration of the work of the hundreds of game developers and evaluate Hogwarts Legacy as it stands, leaving behind-the-scenes context to be considered in addition to that evaluation, rather than in place of it, so that it can be weighted according to your own values."
Rowling, who wrote the original "Harry Potter" book series, has come under fire from LGBTQ activists for her comments regarding transgenderism and women’s rights for years, particularly for her insistence on female-only spaces and sports teams. The highly anticipated video game also launched debate over the political implications of supporting a product associated with her content.
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"The elephant in the room with Hogwarts Legacy is Harry Potter’s creator, J.K. Rowling, whose comments about transgender people in recent years have left a sour taste in the mouths of many current and former Potter fans, both at IGN and in the world at large. This has driven some to call for a boycott of the Wizarding World altogether – including Hogwarts Legacy, though Rowling was not directly involved and there are good reasons (both in-game and out) to believe the developers at Avalanche don’t necessarily share her views," Northup wrote.
He continued, "Regardless, IGN has always and will continue to champion human rights causes and support people speaking with their wallets in whatever manner they choose."
Despite this disclaimer, Northup praised the game, giving it a 9 out a possible 10 rating.
"In nearly every way, Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter RPG I’ve always wanted to play. Its open-world adventure captures all the excitement and wonder of the Wizarding World with its memorable new characters, challenging and nuanced combat, and a wonderfully executed Hogwarts student fantasy that kept me glued to my controller for dozens of hours. It’s certainly weighed down by technical issues, a lackluster main story, and some poor enemy variety, but even those couldn’t come close to breaking its enchanting spell over me," Northup ruled.
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Although left-wing activists have attacked the game, pre-orders for "Hogwarts Legacy" led to it becoming the top-selling game on the downloading platform Steam in January.
