[Jason Schreier] Harry Potter Video Game Will Allow for Transgender Characters

[The Bear]

We are temporarily locking this thread, and discussing with the LGBT members of the staff, if this topic is allowed or not per our recent stance on Hogwarts Legacy- related threads. We will update on this as soon as possible.

 

[The Bear]

We have decided to keep this thread locked. Please refer to the Staff post regarding Hogwarts Legacy threads:

So this is a uniquely awful situation where both the creator of the IP and a senior producer on the game have unrepentant bigoted views.

The team has talked it over at length and as a result we've decided to implement a total ban on threads for promotional media for the game. This means there will be no threads for trailers or official announcements, no hype threads, no fluff pieces about its features. This functionally bans almost all threads leading up to release, unless there are major new developments about the controversy or something along those lines.

This is the first time we've done something like this and we consider this a very exceptional case. It's not just one bigoted game designer that made the difference here. JK Rowling's singular reach and influence, how closely that influence is tied to the Harry Potter IP, and what she chooses to do with that power, is a unique problem on top of this latest controversy.

We're going to revisit whether to have an OT much closer to the game's release. Learning from what happened with Cyberpunk, if there is an OT, it will have a text-only OP created by staff that lays out the controversy with the game and IP. The main reason to have an OT at all is the same one we've articulated before: Some minority members want a space to discuss the game's contents where they will not be shouted down by bigots.

For now though we're definitely not going to be platforming the marketing. If you see any threads for that stuff please report them. If you're unsure about a thread you want to post, please contact the staff first to check before creating it.