The lead designer of Hogwarts Legacy quit the studio following a public backlash. It happened after he was criticized for the views he expressed on his YouTube channel.
Troy Leavitt, who worked as the lead game designer of the upcoming Harry Potter game, announced his departure from Avalanche Software. “I have nothing but good things to say about the game, the dev team, and WB Games,” he said.
1. I have made the decision to part ways with Avalanche Software. I have nothing but good things to say about the game, the dev team, and WB Games.
2. I will be releasing a YouTube Video about this soon on my channel.
— Troy Leavitt (@Troylus_true) March 5, 2021
Leavitt noted that he will explain the reasons for his departure in an upcoming YouTube video.
To clarify: I felt absolutely secure in my position. However, I still wanted to resign for reasons that I will explain in that forthcoming video . I’m in excellent spirits and very pleased with my relationship with WB and Avalanche. ??
— Troy Leavitt (@Troylus_true) March 5, 2021
The departure happened two weeks after Leavitt faced backlash for some of his videos. He was accused of expressing anti-fem views and supporting Gamergate. It made popular game forum ResetEra implement a total ban on promotional threads for Hogwarts Legacy.
Hogwarts Legacy is an upcoming game based on the Harry Potter universe. The title is expected to arrive in 2022 and, according to a recent Bloomberg report, developer Avalanche Software decided to allow players to create transgender characters.
The game faced another controversy due to J.K. Rowling’s comments that many saw as transphobic. The studio went on to say that the writer is “not directly involved” in the production of Hogwarts Legacy, while WB Interactive president David Haddad previously stated that “she has the right to hold her opinions.”