As the release date for the Harry Potter RPG, Hogwarts Legacy, fast approaches, the ad campaign for the game is well underway, while the controversy around the game continues to ramp up. While there are plenty of reasons to avoid the game and plenty of alternatives to play, there are also plenty of people still planning on buying Hogwarts Legacy, judging from reactions to positive reviews and social media.
For those who are against supporting the game, however, it can be hard to distance yourself from something as pervasive as the Wizarding World. Nonetheless, one Twitch Ambassador, Veronica Ripley, is doing just that. As a long-time streamer herself, she spotted that an extensive Hogwarts Legacy ad campaign was running on Twitch. Upon noticing that ads were interrupting streams to promote “this offensive product”, she decided to take action herself.
“Hogwarts Legacy is a product ultimately funding JK Rowling, whose well-documented stance on trans people remains firmly rooted in a callous disregard for human life,” reads the statement from the streamer. Veronica went on to call on other streamers, as well as Twitch itself, to support her stance.
“I call on Twitch to end this harmful relationship with Hogwarts Legacy, and continue to take steps towards providing a safe place for the trans community,” Veronica concluded.
In a follow-up tweet, Veronica also clarified that her frustration is not limited to Hogwarts Legacy, but extends to “the lack of control over what ads are shown on our channels”.
“Today, we’re forced to expose our community to a trash-tier game based on a decades-old kid story written by a transphobic bigot, but what about tomorrow?” she continued on Twitter. “What about streamers? Will we never have the empowerment to decide what ads our community is forced to endure?”
The vast majority of replies to both of Veronica’s statements have been in defense of Hogwarts Legacy, but the lack of control that streams have over the ads that appear alongside their content is a simple fact. Streamers’ dislike of it dates back to 2020, when Twitch first trialed mid-stream ads. These are the perils of relying on a platform you don’t control to publish content, but in the world of Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, there seem to be little other practical means of getting content seen by large audiences.
When criticized for calling on other streamers to stop working on Twitch, Veronica added that she would “never fault anyone for needing to maintain their income” and encouraged those who continue streaming to “inform your viewers that this is an issue worth taking seriously”.
(featured image: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)
