Not since the Harry Potter films has a release from the wizarding world been this eagerly awaited. And yet even a vague association of Hogwarts Legacy with author J.K. Rowling is making it hard for many would-be fans to enjoy this blockbuster game.

About as hyped as it is controversial, Hogwarts Legacy is a game that easily could have been the biggest and most popular release of 2023.

Instead, it has landed right at the center of a fierce debate about the rights of trans people.

The first major video game from the Harry Potter universe in years got its long-awaited public release on Friday.

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The ability to explore Hogwarts castle and the grounds surrounding it in an open-world narrative that pre-dates the original stories had been longed for by many fans of the original series.

But the launch has been soured by the transphobic online presence of author J.K. Rowling, whose criticism of trans women and trans activists have sparked calls for a complete boycott of this role-playing game.

Time and again, the 57-year-old has spoken out against the social and legal equality of trans women.

From Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson to Rupert Grint, almost all major stars from the Harry Potter movie franchise have distanced themselves from the author.

Hogwarts Legacy is by no means the first game to be spawned from Rowling's wizarding world, but it is the first major one in about a decade, and it looks like the biggest yet.

The game takes players back to Hogwarts decades before the events of the Harry Potter books, allowing them to slip into the robes of a freshly placed student at the wizarding school at a time when a sinister dark arts threat is rising.

The game's character editor lets you choose voice, gender, and appearance (now often standard in role-playing games), and a trans woman plays a larger supporting role.

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For all its efforts, the boycott campaign does not seem to be halting the game's potential for success.

Millions of people recently watched streamers playing the game on Twitch, and according to the site steamdb.info, Hogwarts Legacy has been one of the best-selling titles for weeks – even before it was released.

The game has so far been receiving favorable reviews. Gaming reporter Martin Kimber called the game a "beautifully crafted love letter" to the Potter universe.