Warning: The following article on how the Game Awards didn’t snub Hogwarts Legacy contains discussions of transphobia.
Now that the nominations for Game of the Year are officially out in the open, we can finally get down to what really matters: Bickering amongst ourselves in a desperate attempt to prove that what I enjoyed is OBJECTIVELY better than what you enjoyed.
Every year, there’s a conversation around the games that were nominated for the award, as fans are either supportive of the options or begin to violently lobby for their favorite AAA blockbuster to be considered. That seems to be the case for Hogwarts Legacy, and while the kind of outrage that sparks from a popular thing not getting a nod of approval from some shadowy panel of voters isn’t necessarily new in the video game industry, the idea that a game’s been “snubbed” for a GOTY feels odd. And not in a fun, “Well, isn’t that a quirky change?” way, either.
The Storied Controversy of Hogwarts Legacy
I’ve seen many people insisting that Hogwarts Legacy was “snubbed” at the 2023 Game Awards. It’s certainly an interesting take, one that I struggle to understand and agree with. For the sake of clarity, let’s first get into what it means to be snubbed. Pulling out a page of every Best Man’s speech – to “snub” is defined as the act of “rebuffing, ignoring or spurning disdainfully.” It’s often used when speaking about media awards, most commonly when it comes to the Academy Awards. Shawshank Redemption, E.T., and 2001: A Space Odyssey were all considered to be snubbed of an Oscar despite their glowing reviews and impactful legacies.
Related: How Long Was Hogwarts Legacy in Development?
There are many folks out there, some of their diehard fans and others intentionally bad actors, that want to believe that Hogwarts Legacy was snubbed at The Game Awards for appearances. YouTube is no doubt in the process of recommending 10-year-olds a slew of videos with titles such as “THE GAME AWARDS: TOO WOKE?” or “HOGWARTS LEGACY GOTY CHANCES KILLED BY SJWS.” These theories, of course, are alluding to the controversy surrounding the game that erupted thanks to the transphobic views of franchise creator J.K. Rowling.
Those who stir the pot for personal gain and stoke the flames of controversy, fans or not, like to view the mere existence of Hogwarts Legacy as evidence that those campaigning for the rights of trans folks have been defeated and the fact that the game failed to receive a nomination for Game of the Year is The Game Awards attempting to avoid controversy by not spotlighting a game mired by a transphobic legacy. To those people, Hogwarts Legacy deserves a GOTY nomination simply because of what it represents to their warped, small-minded worldview.
The fact of the matter is that Rowling’s transphobia has absolutely nothing to do with The Game Awards shying away from confronting a real-world issue for the simple and awful reason that the video game industry at large doesn’t care. Trans people and those who support their call for protection are but a drop in an ocean because, at the end of the day, this is a business. As much as I wished companies actually cared about the plight of trans people, we all know that they don’t. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule, but as long as the bottom line isn’t affected, most publishers will merely pay lip service to serious issues.
If they genuinely did care, Hogwarts Legacy likely wouldn’t have been released in the first place.
Hogwarts Legacy is FINE. It’s actually quite good in parts. It’s the kind of game one would expect to come out of a studio that’s been handed the reins to a lucrative franchise and a mountain of money. Honestly, were it made back in the heyday of the Harry Potter franchise, I’m sure it would have turned out significantly worse. The reason that it wasn’t nominated for a GOTY is that in 2023, a game needed to be better than fine. As the post-pandemic floodgates open, we’ve been saturated by incredible titles this year. As a reminder, the GOTY nominations for this year are Spider-Man 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Resident Evil 4 Remake. Just look at that list and tell me with a straight face that Hogwarts Legacy deserves to be on there.
Related: Harry Potter: Magic Awakened Gameplay Highlights Storybook Visuals & RPG Mechanics
At the time of writing, the lowest Metacritic score of those aforementioned nominees belongs to Alan Wake 2, which boasts a respectable 87. Hogwarts Legacy stands at an 84, which, granted, isn’t a substantial difference, but when the next lowest score is 90, it becomes a little harder to justify. Metacritic scores aren’t everything, though. I know that, but when it comes to measuring the kind of impact a game had on the industry, it can be a useful metric to gauge just how popular something was, at least among critics.
“But Hogwarts Legacy sold a bajillion copies!” some may cry in defense, insisting that’s enough of an impact. If that’s the metric for quality, then we might as well just give the GOTY to Minecraft or Grand Theft Auto V every year. The fact of the matter is that Hogwarts Legacy, while providing a decent representation of that fictional world, was kind of just… hollow. It was a by-the-numbers open-world game with some fun segments, decent voice acting, and, frankly, a dreadfully dull story that failed to have anything unique to say. When you’re going up against games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Tears of the Kingdom, you’re gonna need more than “the Ubisoft Formula” to carry you to victory.
If you loved Hogwarts Legacy, good on you. If you hate it, I get it. But to insist that it was snubbed for GOTY as some kind of political movement? That shows a fundamental understanding of how this industry (frustratingly) works. Alan Wake 2 had a music video of Sam Lake dancing like John Cena in Peacemaker. Tell me how that’s NOT a Game of the Year winner right there.
