JK Rowling was the mind behind the Harry Potter book series, but Warner Bros. is making it clear it will not be her mind making its latest Harry Potter video game.
Hogwarts Legacy is an action RPG Warner Bros. shared a new trailer and more details about on Wednesday at a Sony games event where we got a release date and, finally, a price for the PlayStation 5. But one thing that wasn’t made clear enough for some fans was whether J.K. Rowling, the creator and writer of all Harry Potter books the game is based on, will be involved in the making of the game itself.
The concern comes after a long series of anti-transgender comments and writings from Rowling, both online and most recently revealed in the contents of a new book written under a male pseudonym. That drew fresh outrage in a summer where Rowling has returned a humanitarian award and seen her comments rebuked by Harry Potter fan sites, actors from the Harry Potter movies and fellow authors. Which may be why on Thursday, Warner Bros. posted a FAQ about Hogwarts Legacy which directly answered whether Rowling is involved in the game.
Q: What is J.K. Rowling’s involvement with the game? Is this a new story from J.K. Rowling?
A: J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game, however, her extraordinary body of writing is the foundation of all projects in the Wizarding World.This is not a new story from J.K. Rowling.
Since it’s a licensed Harry Potter work it seems likely that Rowling would profit from the game, but much like the company did earlier in the summer it’s making it clear that Rowling is not involved in the work made with her IP. Having the author of the original work involved in a property based off of it is, usually, a fact that can be advertised as a good thing. That doesn’t seem to be the case with Rowling these days.