Hogwarts Legacy Will Have Trans Character Creation

According to a report from Bloomberg, Hogwarts Legacy, the upcoming game set in the Harry Potter universe, will allow players to make their characters transgender. The game’s character creator will offer options for customizing their voice, body type, and gender placement.

Picking a masculine or feminine voice or body type will not determine a player character’s gender, allowing fluidity with who a player chooses to be. They’ll be given the choice of “witch” or “wizard” which determines the dormitory that they reside in and the identifying term which other characters will use when talking to them.

Hogwarts Legacy having this as an option for players when creating their characters is a big deal for the game. Ever since its announcement, the game has been under scrutiny because of its connection to Harry Potter creator J. K. Rowling, who has come under fire for transphobic statements she has made. The game’s official website has an FAQ which states that although Hogwarts Legacy is built upon the universe that Rowling created, she did not make the story for the game and has no direct involvement in the development of the game.

In Bloomberg’s report, they mention that the team at developer Avalanche Software had been trying to make the game more trans-inclusive because of the impact that Rowling has had on the game and those who were fans of the series. Allowing players to make their character transgender was one part of their plan, with the other being to also include a transgender character in the game. This push was met with resistance from upper management, though they did relent and allow it to become a customization choice.

Recently it was revealed that Troy Leavitt, a Lead Designer on the game, had a YouTube channel that was dedicated to anti-social justice topics. This has cast yet another cloud over the game and the team at Avalanche Software. The game which first leaked back in 2018 is still a year away from release, so while it’ll be a very difficult task, there’s still time for them to turn the conversation surrounding them game into a more positive one that’s inclusive of all players.