Some of board gaming’s biggest and most influential reviewers are boycotting Codenames publisher Czech Games Edition, after the company decided to release a new Harry Potter-themed version of the game despite years of anti-trans campaigning from the character’s creator, JK Rowling.
CGE faced an immediate online backlash after unveiling Codenames: Back to Hogwarts on social media site BlueSky on July 23, with the announcement receiving hundreds of responses attacking the decision before the Codenames account locked comments, and switched off the function allowing users to share the post alongside their own remarks.
The continued online criticism intensified two days later when CGE released a short statement attempting to justify its decision to release the game – which was panned for going out of its way to avoid mentioning Harry Potter or JK Rowling by name.
Oh no… anyways…
If Hogwarts Legacy told me anything, it’s that this unfortunately accomplishes nothing and most HP fans in the best case either don’t care or in the worst case even align with JKRs views.
Legacy literally has an explicitly trans npc in it.
That’s just weird. Why? Did someone actually believe that’d be enough to get people on side? Considering her reputation, that’s not a decision made on a whim. Did someone sneak it in under Joanne’s nose or did she just not give a fuck?
Allegedly Rowling was not involved in the game at all. I’d think of it as an act of goodwill from the developers.
You’re required to meet her in the game, so it’s not like anything was snuck in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8k8DseLCl8
In this case though, it’s professional reviewers who are boycotting CGE, the publisher. Reviews are pretty important in the boardgame industry as a form of marketing, so this does have the potential to accomplish something.
Let‘s hope
Having actually played that game (I pirated it to see if it was shit or not), maybe the fact that it sucked and was fucking boring with no quidditch will deter people from playing anything further.
Yeah, it was well received anyway.
I thought it was great. Yeah, it doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s a solid Harry Potter-universe adventure game. It gets bonus points for being developed by a studio near where I live. My kids love HP and we enjoyed playing through it together, in fact, one of my kids made their own account and beat it before me.
The main opposition I see to it is being affiliated w/ JK Rowling, nothing bad about the game itself, other than features they wish it had.
Historical, HP fans have proven to have bad taste in media.
Well, for one, we’re talking about adults who are still obsessed with a series of children’s books, so…
Well see, they dont want to be adults yet.
I mean, being an adult in this world? Fucking sucks the life right out of you.
Its not a fun game all the time, or predictable. Its a control freaks nightmare absolutely. I’m not really sure anyone’s having a fantastic time across the board.
Good. And I hope HBO faces similar backlash over the new Harty Potter TV series.
