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So, in regards to that new Harry Potter game and "Support the devs," there are some problems with this mindset from a perspective that I think many aren't aware of: licensing. This is going to be a thread but please stick with me because I've realized a lot don't understand this.
Before I get going, it does totally suck that people who worked on this game are now in trouble, and if you know devs whose lives/careers are shattered over one boycott of a game, then you should personally help them. However, putting money into a JKR project is still tainted.
This game doesn't exist in a vacuum/bubble. The reaction to this, and anything else Harry Potter, and anything else Wizards/Witches, is being CAREFULLY looked at by companies interested in this genre and IP.
There are meetings and essays going on that the general public knows nothing about where people are discussing whether or not it matters that JKR is transphobic/a terf/influencing politics. When Harry Potter IP succeeds in spite of this, the company decides this:
Standing against transphobia doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that she is the way she is, it doesn't matter that we give her money, because people don't care. It doesn't effect the company's bottom line, so why SHOULD they care?
So the Harry Potter IP, will continue, JKR will continue to get more and more money. She is SO ingrained in the cultural zeitgeist that unfortunately it can only take an ACTUAL boycott to remove her, and considering the conversation of "Oh but I love it." She'll stay.
"Donating an equal amount to a trans charity" is also not the grand gesture you think it is. Guess we missed the whole Tony Stark dilemma in the first Iron Man movie about how dealing with both sides without taking a stance doesn't clear your conscience.
The game was REVEALED yesterday. There was time for the company to cut loose of the IP. JKR didn't become who she is yesterday morning and they were like "Oh shit we didn't know." People would eat up a generic witches/wizards game that's actually good.
If you buy this game, you are making a statement that you don't care. It's that simple.
You may claim you do, donate all the money in the world you want to charity, but you also know you supported her... so stop trying to clear your conscience of it. You can't.
You may claim you do, donate all the money in the world you want to charity, but you also know you supported her... so stop trying to clear your conscience of it. You can't.
