It should go without saying that bigotry is never acceptable and that money does not buy you the right to treat people you disagree with disrespectfully. If I were sitting across from JK Rowling today, this is what I would say to her.
I find her open animosity towards transgender people abhorrent and utterly vile. However, as the editor-in-chief of Can I Play That, I have a duty to thousands of disabled gamers to give them information around the base accessibility of the newest game in the Hogwarts universe.
If we were a mainstream publication talking about the quality of a game, I could definitely see boycotting, but as an advocate and protector of disabled consumers, it’s my job to cover all major titles regardless of my personally feeling toward them, so as you read our Hogwarts Legacy review, please keep the following things in mind.
- The review is simply a comment on whether the game is accessible, not a recommendation to buy.
- We published a review not because we are ignoring JK Rowling’s open transphobia, but because we have a duty to our disabled readers to provide them with basic information about the game’s accessibility. It is then up to them to decide whether or not they will purchase the game after reading.
I am grieved that this has to be stated, but we are here to serve disabled gamers, and I think we have done that through our Hogwarts Legacy review.
