<
https://www.thegamer.com/hogwarts-legacy-harry-potter-jk-rowling-controversy-boycott-battleground/>
"
Hogwarts Legacy isn't out yet and already I am exhausted by its existence.
It is easily the most divisive game of the year, but the way it has been
discussed makes it extremely curious too. Often when games are divisive ahead
of release, they fall into two camps. The first camp we can call the 'Buried
Head' camp. The hype cycle is maintained by positivity, by excitement, by the
desire to always consume something new. For games that fall into this camp,
fans will ignore crunch, or union busting, or sexual harassment, or whatever
behind the scenes issue causes this sense of division. They bury their heads.
The second camp might be called 'the Relishers'. This camp arises when a game
leans into its own criticisms, usually by relying on problematic content of one
sort or another in the game or marketing. The hype cycle here is spun by
controversy, and the fact that other people, usually SJWs of some sort, object
to the game only makes fans want to play it more. They relish it.
Hogwarts
Legacy is both, but mainly, it's neither.
We have some head burying. When The Game Awards lists it as one of 2023's Most
Anticipated Games, sand is clogging up Geoff Keighley's ears, eyes, and other
facial orifices. We also have some relishers. Whenever the game is discussed,
anonymous troll accounts will gleefully declare that they are buying eight
copies on day one, just to prove a point. But amongst the sand and the relish,
Hogwarts Legacy has been unique.
A significant proportion of those planning on playing the game exist in the
middle. They acknowledge the numerous issues with the game, and seem to resent
their existence. They are playing the game despite, not because of,
controversy, and while they wish it would all go away they consider themselves
big enough people -
good enough people - to face up to the issues. Not enough
to give up the game, but enough to admit they are conflicted about it."
Via Esther Schindler.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
