We’re now just days away from the official release of Hogwarts Legacy and the game has thrown gasoline on an ongoing culture war. Many gamers are vowing to stay away to protest against J.K. Rowling’s transphobia, right-wingers are buying multiple copies of the game to counterbalance that, many streamers playing the game are being bullied, and YouTubers posting about it are facing stern disapproval from their viewers.
Complicating all this is that Hogwarts Legacy is at least somewhat progressive. The character creator isn’t built around a strict male/female gender divide, the game has been praised for a rare accurate depiction of Afro-textured hair, and there’s even a positively presented trans character in The Three Broomsticks’ landlord Sirona Ryan (though her name is very much rubbing people up the wrong way).
But can you actually pursue a same-sex relationship under the Hogwarts spires?
Relationships in Hogwarts Legacy
You play as a fifth-year student in Hogwarts Legacy, meaning you and your classmates are 15 or 16 years old. As such, while you can form close emotional bonds with various students you encounter, there are no romantic relationships in the game. This diverges from the books and films, which feature various students pairing off and the messy drama that often follows.
But, perhaps knowing that the game will largely be played by adults, Avalanche Software has clearly decided that any potential controversy isn’t worth it and hasn’t included any straight or gay romance options.
Can you be gay anyway?
Not really, though you can at least create a character that appears to be trans. The character creator is agnostic on gender, allowing you to choose masculine or feminine presenting haircuts for whichever body type, assign a male or female-sounding voice to the character as you see fit, and allows you to self-identify as a Witch or Wizard.
But these choices are almost entirely cosmetic, with the only very minor gameplay impact being that Wizards sleep in the boys’ dormitory while Witches sleep in the girls’ dormitory. Once in the game, the player’s appearance, ethnicity, or gender presentation is never commented on by other characters. Despite that, you will be referred to by they/them pronouns throughout, though this is likely to simply save on voice-acting costs more than a progressive push.
So, essentially, you can sort of play as an LGBTQ+ character in Hogwarts Legacy, though their sexuality will be your own headcanon than something reflected in the game.
Then again, the same applies to literally every other game character in history who doesn’t explicitly identify as heterosexual, so it’s hardly a plus point.
Hogwarts Legacy will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC on Feb. 10, with the PS4 and the Xbox One releases set for April 4, and the Nintendo Switch on July 25.
