‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Director Alan Tew Responds To Loaded Questions About J.K. Rowling And The Idea That The Wizarding World Can Be Reclaimed From Her

Ryan Pearson |

Feb 2, 2023

The player character talks to a concerned Natsai Onai via Hogwarts Legacy (2022), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

In the wake of call for a boycott, the director for Hogwarts Legacy, Alan Tew, recently responded to some loaded questions about the upcoming game and how the Wizarding World of Harry Potter can be reclaimed from J.K. Rowling.

Ranrok marches proudly, flanked by two other goblins via Hogwarts Legacy (2022), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

For months there has been attempts to foster a boycott of Hogwarts Legacy. Whether it be claiming Goblins are antisemitic caricatures, falsely portraying the game’s plot as halting an oppressed group’s uprising, setting false user tags on Steam, and claiming the game’s male protagonist voice actor is anti-transgender.

This was born of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, having stated in 2020 that sex is real, and cautioned focusing on avoiding offending transgender people results in the denial of the female identity. Her comments were taken as anti-transgender (despite her insistence), leading to scorn from activists and supporters ever since.

A unseen wizard is silhouetted by fire, along with a spider via Hogwarts Legacy (2022), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Game Director Alan Tew discussed the outcry in recent comments to IGN.

The phrasing of IGN’s exact question wasn’t published; however their article notes, “As the game inches closer to release — only two weeks away — Portkey customers will be navigating a thicket of unresolvable ethical quandaries. Is it possible to divorce the themes of love and belonging — so crucial to the Harry Potter canon — from its mercurial author? Can the Wizarding World ever be reclaimed from J.K. Rowling if she stands to profit from every unit that Hogwarts Legacy sells? Here is how Alan Tew, the game’s director, addressed those discrepancies.”

The player casts Avada Kedavra while wearing the Dark Arts Cosmetic Set via Hogwarts Legacy (2022), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Tew responded by not mentioning Rowling by name, or the boycotts themselves.

“I think for us there are challenges in every game we’ve worked on. This game has been no different,” Tew assured. “When we bumped into those challenges, we went back and refocused on the stuff that we really care about. We know our fans fell in love with the Wizarding World, and we believe they fell in love with it for the right reasons.”

A pair of students mix potions in a cauldron via Hogwarts Legacy (2022), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

“We know that’s a diverse audience. For us, it’s making sure that the audience, who always dreamed of having this game, had the opportunity to feel welcomed back,” Tew insisted. “That they have a home here and that it’s a good place to tell their story.”

IGN writer Luke Winkie asked Tew if he “ever had any second thoughts about working on this IP after Rowling’s biases made headlines.” According to Winkie, Tew, “after a pause,” simply reiterated that Avalanche Software made the game for everyone.

Poppy Sweeting is fascinated by a freshly hatched fantastic beast, while the player character struggles to share the sentiment via Hogwarts Legacy (2022), Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

It would seem calls to boycott, and even reports on it magnifying it, haven’t had much of an effect. At the time of writing, Hogwarts Legacy is the top selling game on Steam. The game has risen four places, surpassing the Steam Deck and the Dead Space remake.

This is based on pre-orders alone, and just on Steam. Hogwarts Legacy launches February 10th for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. It will then launch on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on April 4th, and Nintendo Switch on July 25th.

Steam’s Global Top Sellers chart the week of January 30th, 2023 via Steam

On top of this the idea that the Wizarding World can be reclaimed from Rowling is laughable given the fact that she’s the actual author of the novels. To hit this home even further Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav informed investors during the company’s 2022 Q3 earnings call in November that he wanted to do more Harry Potter films with Rowling.

Zaslav said, “When you have a franchise movie, you can often make 2 to 3x the amount of money you make in the U.S. because you get a slot. And a focus on the big movies that are loved, that are tentpole, that people are going to leave home, leave early from dinner to go to see and we have a lot of them, Batman, Superman, Aquaman, if we can do something with J.K. on Harry Potter going forward, Lord of the Rings. What are we doing with Game of Thrones? What are we doing with a lot of the big franchises that we have? We’re focused on franchises.”