J.K. Rowling’s Transphobia Reportedly Made Harry Potter Game Developers “Uncomfortable”

There’s reportedly a new Harry Potter game on its way – yay, right? But there’s a bit of controversy surrounding the release and it, of course, has to do with IRL Voldermort, J.K. Rowling.

Several video game sources told Bloomberg that Warner Bros. is working on a game for multiple platforms, including PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, but the folks behind the game are nervous about its release following Rowling’s transphobic comments.

The publication claims Rowling’s remarks made “some members of the team uncomfortable and sparked private discussions among staff over the pandemic water cooler, the workplace communication app Slack.”

Felicia Grady, managing editor of the popular Harry Potter fan site MuggleNet, said the Rowling controversy is likely to summon a shroud of Dementor-like negativity around the game.

“Based on what I’ve seen from fans, I do believe that Rowling’s comments have had some effect on the level of excitement they have for the Harry Potter RPG or other upcoming content,” Grady wrote in an email.

“We’ve seen comments from fans who no longer wish to support Rowling or the brand financially.”

Footage from a very early version of the currently untitled game began circulating back in 2018. Head here to check it out.

The big-budget Harry Potter game will let players role-play as wizards and roam a “vast, open-world re-creation of Hogwarts and its surrounding areas.” This sounds pretty damn sick, basically Grand Theft Auto but with broomsticks, but has Rowling’s evil comments impacted the release of the game?

We’ll see. Mischief fucking managed, J.K.