Streamer xQc has denounced the boycott of Hogwarts Legacy and condemned those who have been harassing streamers playing the game.
RELATED: ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Reveals Transgender Character, Activists Still Not Happy
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has come under fire by pro-transgender activists in recent years. In 2020 she stated biological sex is real. In addition, the author also wrote opinion piece wherein she noted that terms such as “people who menstruate” — designed to avoid offending transgender people — instead denied the female identity.
Since then, there have been attempts to boycott Rowling’s works, and works inspired by it. This includes Hogwarts Legacy.
Boycott attempts have included claims the Goblins are antisemitic caricatures, falsely insisting the game’s plot revolves around suppressing the oppressed goblin’s uprising, flooding Steam with false user tags, and accusing the game’s male protagonist voice actor of being anti-transgender. Some gaming news websites have even refused to review or write guides for the game.
As Hogwarts Legacy continued to climb Steam’s Global Top Sellers list — the top seller this week as of this time of writing — it seems some have taken more drastic measures. Namely, some streamers who gained early access by purchasing special editions of the title are being harassed for playing a game based on a children’s book about wizards and magic.
A website “Have They Streamed That Wizard Game?” was even set up to track those who played the game (and is now “suspended by its owner“). Two streamers who suffered harassment were Matt and Shelby of Streamer Girlfriend Reviews. This was despite their protests being an LGBT “allies” and donating money to an LGBT charity during the stream.
They both also seem shocked those they “admire” turned on them, despite the “good” they’d done.
The pair were bombarded with harassing messages by chat members, to the point both grew angry, and claimed to have not only lost subscribers and endured false reports by Twitch users, but also having already had “a target on [their] back” for supporting the LGBT community.
Shelby, the girlfriend in question, sounded on the verge of tears when asking if they could take a short break.
Vtuber Amano Pikamee also cancelled her stream of the game — later deleting the tweets discussing it. An alleged screenshot shows a tweet of her insisting that playing the game was not indicative of her support of anything.
Steamer xQc — Félix Lengyel — addressed the outcry in a recent livestream while playing Hogwarts Legacy. As seen in a clip made by a viewer, xQc prefaced, “The way I see it… people are gonna hate me for this take OK?” before going for the jugular.
“People fund all sorts and types of evil with their purchases, across the board, in even way worse ways than you can even imagine. And then you’re trying to make everybody feel bad for f—king purchasing a video game?” xQc mocked.
He then showed his anger — arguably lowering the tone — concluding, “Bro, you need to f—king such my balls b—ch. F—king libtard Andies. What the f—k is this s—t?”
xQc argument has some weight. A person may buy goods and services from a company, with said company using the profits to fund charities and organizations counter to their own beliefs and ideals. Many gaming companies announced their pro-abortion stances after Roe V. Wade was overturned, but saw no at-large boycott or media blackballing.
Even those boycotting or refusing to report on Hogwarts Legacy have come under fire for alleged hypocrisy. This includes, for instance, failing to denounce or continuing to cover Overwatch 2 despite Activision Blizzard’s sexual harassment scandal, not condemning Ubisoft games over their own scandal, and other controversial companies that seemingly weren’t boycotted.
There are targets that could be considered more “deserving” of scorn than Hogwarts Legacy, but it also descends into whataboutism.
The Walt Disney Company recently came under fire for approving the “Star Wars is a DRAG! – Exploring Star Wars through the Art of Drag” panel at the upcoming Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London. This comes at a time when discussions over when or if children should learn about transgender issues, and “all ages” drag shows being sexual have grown explosive.
In February of 2021, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — chaired by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman — made headlines for investing into video game companies. Yet those companies have yet to see even a fraction of the outcry Hogwarts Legacy has.
The same could also be argued for Chinese tech giant Tencent — having made “patriotic games” for the Chinese government and helping create their digital currency — as well as any media company that had Chinese involvement, or altered what they create to avoid offending Chinese censors.
While arguing where your money goes is one thing, what is far more tangible is the fact the boycott and harassment has failed. On Twitch, Hogwarts Legacy broke the record for the most live viewers for a single player game — with over 1.2 million viewers.
While those angry or genuinely interested in the game would be included in the viewership, it was likely further supported by those curious about the game ahead of its February 10th launch.