Game On: Harry Potter and the case for separating art from artist

Afte two lengthy delays, Hogwarts Legacy was released on Feb. 10 for Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. Taking place in the Harry Potter universe, the player controls a character of their own creation, a fifth-year Hogwarts student in 1899 – about a century before the events of the novels and films – who ultimately finds themself facing dark wizards and quashing a goblin rebellion.

The game itself is garnering decent reviews, with Metacritic aggregate scores settling into the 85-90/100 range . Despite releasing in a complete and relatively bug-free state – unlike so many other AAA video games lately – the title is nevertheless attracting controversy on account of Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling’s numerous and contentious staunch political views.

It’s not uncommon for people with Rowling’s level of influence to go on the occasional public political rant and commit the odd social faux pas. But when a fiction writer finds herself with an entire Wikipedia page documenting her Twitter tirades, political op-eds published in the Guardian and Harper’s Magazine and social media arguments with gay and trans rights groups, it might be time to stop.

In light of this, some have found it difficult to continue supporting Rowling – or even her Wizarding World altogether. At some point, nearly all of us have come to the crossroads of separating art from the artist who produced it. Michael Jackson’s multitude of hit songs still regularly permeate airwaves despite his suspicious behaviors, and entire magazines are dedicated to following the scandalous behaviors of celebrities.

But nearly everyone can agree that there’s a line somewhere that shouldn’t be crossed. I have yet to encounter anyone who has continued to listen to the rock band Lostprophets following the imprisonment of lead vocalist Ian Watkins for multiple instances of sexual assault of young children and babies. No one wants to hear the voice of such a heinous, disgusting individual.

I mention this not to excuse Rowling’s rhetoric, but to illustrate that the ability to separate art from the artist fails at some point. Maybe Rowling has crossed that line for you – maybe she hasn’t. Or perhaps you feel that not every person with a modicum of fame should be spouting their beliefs online as if the balance of the world relies on their input. All of these are valid stances.

It’s worth pointing out that the Wizarding World has become a whole beast of its own outside of Rowling. She doesn’t have much control over the franchise – she wrote the books, and when Warner Bros. approached her about making a movie series her one request was for them to keep everything properly European rather than Americanizing it.

At this point, it’s a media franchise with hundreds of hands dictating its trajectory. But while Rowling is no longer the sole author of the Wizarding World, make no mistake – she still receives significant royalties, and her net worth has been estimated at around $1 billion for over a decade now.

Felix “xQc” Lengyel, a video game streamer with over 11.6 million followers, was streaming gameplay of Hogwarts Legacy when he stated, “People fund all sorts of evil with their daily purchases in way worse ways than you can even imagine.”

He makes a good point – it’s a near-impossible task to ensure all of your purchases are ethically sourced in today’s globalized economy. To single out one specific, trendy purchase as evil can come across as ideologically lazy or inconsistent.

At the same time, there’s nothing wrong with being passionate about an issue and putting your money where your mouth is. If more people learned to vote with their wallets, the world would likely be a better place.

In the end, whether you choose to boycott Hogwarts Legacy or not, the most important thing is doing what you deem most conscionable. As for the game itself, the consensus seems to be that Hogwarts Legacy is a perfectly serviceable open-world game. Such an imaginative setting with memorable locations and characters demanded a large-scale, immersive video game like this, and Avalanche Software delivered.

Riordan Zentler can be reached at riordanzentler@gmail.com.