All Harry Potter Games Just Got Banned From An Important Gaming Event
Hogwarts Legacy and all Harry Potter games have been banned from Games Done Quick, the semiannual video game speedrun charity marathon.
It would seem that Hogwarts Legacy, a game set in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter universe, has been banned after all. But we’re not referring to the boycott previously called for by various activist groups and Twitter influencers over transgender controversies surrounding Harry Potter’s author. Instead, we’re referring to Games Done Quick (GDQ), a semiannual video game speedrun charity marathon that raises funds for Prevent Cancer Foundation and Doctors Without Borders.
According to GamesRadar+, Games Done Quick has banned Hogwarts Legacy and all other games in the Harry Potter franchise from future events. The games were added to the GDQ’s “Disallowed Games” list, which means that individual speed runs of the game can’t be submitted for consideration and won’t appear during future event streams. The reason for this decision is the fact that Hogwarts Legacy, and all other games on the list, feature content, views, or an origin that the organizers of the event deem unsuitable for their streams.
With that said, Hogwarts Legacy isn’t the only game banned from GDQ; the list includes other Harry Potter games, games with an ERSB rating of Adults Only, the previously mentioned Five Nights at Freddy’s gaming series, 2005’s God of War—the original game for PlayStation 2—and any other game that’s prohibited on Twitch. This is somewhat surprising, though, as the ban is sudden, and other Harry Potter games were once regularly allowed at the event. With that said, the ban might not be permanent.
On their page, GDQ stated that the bans on Harry Potter games are “subject to further review in the future,” which basically means that the ban isn’t permanent. But with the new policy in place, players shouldn’t expect to see any Harry Potter game at the upcoming GDQ event. This is pretty odd, considering that Harry Potter games don’t have any Adults Only content and are generally pretty tame, leading many to assume that the ban is a repercussion of JK Rowling’s outspoken views on the transgender community.
Despite the fact that the controversial author wasn’t involved in the making of Hogwarts Legacy, many have chosen to boycott the title due to the author’s connection to the IP. The developers of Hogwarts Legacy, perhaps in an attempt to appease the social justice warriors of the internet, have even introduced a transgender non-player character to the game and implemented transgender characters in Hogwarts Legacy character creation mode.
To be honest, allowing the customized creation of transgender characters should be implemented without any preceding controversies—just allow gamers to create characters they can identify with; it’s the whole point of RPGs. But on the other hand, it’s baffling that a charitable organization would deny funding gained by employing a certain gaming title just because the IP’s author has a bone to pick with identity politics. Let’s all take a moment to remember that before she made her public imagery primarily about her outspoken and controversial beliefs about trans people, most headlines about JK Rowling were about her donations to charities.
Despite the ban on Harry Potter games, the speedrunning community remains excited about the upcoming event. However, there might be some time before we see Hogwarts Legacy and other Harry Potter games featured in charitable events.
