Harry Potter game becomes top seller amid boycott calls

One of the most anticipated role-playing games (RPG) of 2023, Hogwarts Legacy, comes out February 10 but it is already a top seller, despite the calls for a boycott by influential gamers.

Game developer Avalanche allowed early access to gamers who paid extra for the Deluxe Edition and instead of chasing away customers, the boycott campaign had the opposite effect.

Even with the limited release, Hogwarts Legacy topped Steam charts last week. It also broke the December 2020 record for most concurrent views for a single-player game with over 1.2 million views on Twitch, beating Cyberpunk 2077.

The controversy
It all started with JK Rowling’s views on trans rights when she voiced her concerns about physical risks women may face from biological men identifying as trans.

Though the game developer tried to avoid the controversy by adding a transgender character, several reviewers have refused to look into the game. Some critics have even added ‘genocide simulator’ custom tags to the game on Steam to shoo away potential customers.

But those who have reviewed the game are liking it. It has a high 85 rating on Metacritic and according to OpenCritic, more than 90% of professional video game testers swear by it.

Maybe the game is a typical example of when you are asked not to do something, you want to do just that.