Oops: Left’s Attempt to Boycott ‘Harry Potter’ Video Game Backfiring Badly Before It’s Even Released

The left despises her, but the creator of the “Harry Potter” universe still has the magic touch. J.K. Rowling, the publishing juggernaut who built a billion-dollar fortune with her story about a young wizard and his fantastic world centered on the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has been an archvillain for transgender activists for years. But as the controversy — and sales — surrounding the release of a forthcoming video game based on Rowling’s creation shows, she’s not going to be stopped. “Hogwarts Legacy,” a video game that tells “an original story in the Wizarding World,” won’t be released until February but is already in a position to be the best-selling game of 2023, according to GameRant, an online publication that covers the gaming industry. On the PC video game distribution service Steam, “Hogwarts Legacy” was the No. 1 seller on Tuesday (topped on the chart only by the free-to-play “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive”). Its deluxe edition was the best-selling game on Amazon for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S on Tuesday, with the standard edition coming in at No. 6 for both consoles. All of this comes amid condemnation of the game from various leftists intent on making Rowling pay for her heresy when it comes to the transgender faith. As an all-too-sympathetic BuzzFeed reported in December, calls to boycott “Hogwarts Legacy” began in earnest when transgender activist Jessie Earl (known as Jessie Gender on YouTube) went onto social media to claim that support for the game is “harmful.” That got Rowling’s attention. She responded with biting sarcasm: “Deeply disappointed @jessiegender doesn’t realise purethink is incompatible with owning ANYTHING connected with me, in ANY form. The truly righteous wouldn’t just burn their books and movies but the local library, anything with an owl on it and their own pet dogs,” she wrote.

Deeply disappointed @jessiegender doesn’t realise purethink is incompatible with owning ANYTHING connected with me, in ANY form. The truly righteous wouldn’t just burn their books and movies but the local library, anything with an owl on it and their own pet dogs. #DoBetter 1/2 pic.twitter.com/LqANqab8Km

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 17, 2022

Rowling’s views on the brainwashing of the transgender movement are a refreshing change from the leftist orthodoxy that usually dominates the entertainment field. (She’s regrettably leftist on most other matters, such as the “right” to abortion.) But what to left is unacceptable, to normal people sounds like common sense. Here’s what Rowling posted to Twitter back in 2019, commenting on the case of a woman fired from her job at a think tank for failing to toe the transgender line:

Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 19, 2019

That “sex is real” statement and her refusal to back away from reality since has made Rowling a pariah of the “tolerant” left, even among the stars of the “Harry Potter” franchise, who literally owe their good fortune in life to her brains. So when it comes to a new product such as the “Harry Potter” video game, it’s only to be expected there would be calls like this:

We aren’t asking people to boycott Hogwarts Legacy to make some kind of statement. We’re asking you to boycott it because where JKR puts her money is actively harming trans people.

— andrew (@McFreakinAndrew) January 16, 2023

Sounds like the most sensible thing to do is boycott hogwarts legacy! The less you buy from Rowling, the less you give her the impression that you are validating her hatefulness!

— Merche (@mercherolvaag) January 12, 2023

THIS THIS THIS

One of the biggest reasons to boycott stuff like Hogwarts Legacy is that it punishes studios for working with bigots. If your allyship is so fragile you can’t handle not buying a game, they’ll keep working with homophobes, TERFs and racists. https://t.co/PfX8B2zITt — Capn.EXE (@CapnEXE) January 16, 2023

From someone who was literally a poster child for the Hogwarts School Choir at Universal Studios… if I can not buy Hogwarts Legacy, so can you. It really is that easy. This was one of the best, most memorable parts of my life, but JKR is harming people I care about. pic.twitter.com/X0BpNHNiP0

— Sarah Daniels (@SarahDaniels) January 15, 2023

I’d like to remind you that JK Rowling sees financial success of any product tied to her as a sign that people agree with her insane Right-Wing Anti-LGBTQ Views and agendas. As such, I urge everyone to Boycott Hogwarts Legacy to show this isn’t the case!#BoycottHogwartsLegacy pic.twitter.com/Xnfm9bTfxe

— Felis Resisterus 🐀 Cat Outta Twitmo (@AltLeloge) January 10, 2023

And blah, blah, sniffle, sniffle, blah. It’s clearly not having much of an effect. And judging by many of the social media responses, it’s actually backfiring, badly.

I was going to buy the game anyway, but after knowing that the “woke” gang wanted to boycott it I just went ahead and pre-purchased it. #HogwartsLegacy #BoycottHogwartsLegacy #Buyhogwartslegacy pic.twitter.com/EtvuJzze3q

— Lee Tuaty (@MrTuaty) January 10, 2023

Basically you expect people to boycott a game because a certain group got their feelings hurt by taking offense

I bought TWO copies #HogwartsLegacy https://t.co/T5f1eb9m0t — La ReinaCreole (@LaReinaCreole) January 16, 2023

#BoycottHogwartsLegacy Soooo Hogwarts legacy going to be lit huh, so many sales. Hmmm the boycott didnt work out huh? Preorderd it and gonna enjoy it. #HogwartsLegacy

— Art. (@Tho_66) January 9, 2023

It’s not all that surprising that any talk of a boycott against a “Harry Potter” franchise product was doomed to failure. Rowling’s books alone have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide. [firefly_poll] The movie series based on the books was astonishingly successful, with a worldwide box office in the neighborhood of $10 billion. Obviously, what she’s selling is what fans want — readers, movie viewers and now gamers. The fact that some radical leftists — the kind with purple hair and childish priorities — are telling them not to buy it just makes it all the more appealing. If Rowling isn’t intimidated, neither are her customers. The more appealing it is, the more it’s going to sell, and the more money its creator will make. That’s not just the magic of J.K. Rowling. It’s the magic of capitalism — and freedom. This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.