Comes in the wake of controversial views from Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
People can choose to be transgender in the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy.
That’s according to a report from Bloomberg, which claims that players will be able to choose a character that has a male or female-sounding voice, regardless of what body type they have decided on.
This news comes amid controversy over the views of Harry Potter creator JK Rowling, as well as the more recent revelation that Hogwarts Legacy’s lead designer, Troy Leavitt, used to run a pro-Gamergate YouTube channel.
Staff at developer Avalanche have reportedly expressed concerns about Rowling’s views on the trans community, before an FAQ published in September 2020 stated that the author had not had any direct involvement in the game’s development.
“J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game, however, her extraordinary body of writing is the foundation of all projects in the Wizarding World. This is not a new story from J.K. Rowling,” the FAQ said.
The decision to support character customisation like this in Hogwarts Legacy is likely the result of Avalanche wanting to make the game appear more inclusive in the face of the controversy surrounding Rowling’s views.
The game was revealed in the summer of 2020 and is set to launch in 2022.
Hogwarts Legacy isn’t the only big-budget triple-A game that has allowed users to choose to play as a trans character; Cyberpunk 2077 also allowed people to customise their avatar to be transgender.
