Hogwarts Legacy is a highly-anticipated action RPG set in the world of Harry Potter. Announced during the PS5 Event in 2020, this game quickly caught the eyes of many fans who are now busy speculating about its unannounced events and storylines. Originally slated for a 2021 release, Hogwarts Legacy has been delayed to 2022 due toCOVID-19's impact on its development.
That said, the developer has been showering bits of information on the game every now and then, with the most recent being about Hogwarts Legacy's character creator. The reveal already showed that the protagonist would be a player-created character, but the inclusion of transgender options in it makes the feature a hundred times better.
Hogwarts Legacy's Character Creator
Hogwarts Legacy is said to include transgender options, with players able to choose the character's voice, gender, and body type following which they would be transferred into one of the school's dormitories.
This news is particularly interesting, as J.K. Rowling became the subject of many controversies after she posted several disparaging comments on social media. While J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in Hogwarts Legacy, its reliance on her lore and characters could pose several moral dilemmas for fans, but this reveal is a win. The effort to make characters and their players of whatever background feel at home would be highly appreciated by many, but there's a real question that has yet to be answered.
How Long Until This Become the Industry Standard?
Inclusivity in video games has been heavily talked about for a very long time, yet many developers still refrain from including transgender characters and non-male protagonists. However, the scenario keeps changing with times, and it does look that things will be better in the future. There has been more transgender-friendly character creation recently, such as with Demon's Souls, and hopefully it keeps moving forward.
Not many games have made explicitly queer characters as protagonists with a notable exception of character such as Life is Strange's Chloe. While it isn't known if character creation will impact the game and the world around or not, the ability to express oneself is a great decision on the developer's part. From the looks of things, it seems like there's still some time until it becomes the industry standard though. Many developers and publishers are making a strong case for such things now more than ever, and that would make a great change in an industry fans hold so dear.
Hogwarts Legacy is in development for a 2022 release on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.