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'Hogwarts Legacy' may allow players to create transgender characters

Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has made comments that were widely perceived as transphobic.

Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Hogwarts Legacy, the upcoming game set in the Harry Potter universe, will reportedly enable players to create a transgender character. According to Bloomberg, they'll be able to select a body type and voice (masculine or feminine) that aren't locked to a specific gender. The player can decide into which dormitory their character is placed, witch or wizard, which will determine how other characters address them.

Such custom character creation options are becoming increasingly common in games, with Cyberpunk 2077 a particularly notable example. In the case of Hogwarts Legacy, the news comes in the wake of comments from Harry Potter author JK Rowling that were widely perceived as transphobic. Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, the stars of the Harry Potter movies, denounced Rowling's remarks, which also reportedly troubled some of Hogwarts Legacy's developers.

Some members of the development team at Avalanche Software are trying to make the open-world RPG as inclusive as possible in the wake of Rowling's comments, Bloomberg reports. Along with the customization options, they are said to have made a case for adding a trans character. In a Q&A on the Hogwarts Legacy website, Avalanche says that Rowling "is not directly involved in the creation of the game."

Hogwarts Legacy was originally scheduled for a 2021 release date. However, Avalanche and publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have pushed it back to 2022.