Hogwarts Legacy, an upcoming open-world RPG title based on the Harry Potter franchise, just can't seem to catch a break.
After being delayed to an undefined date in 2022, Hogwarts Legacy recently lost one of its developers, Troy Leavitt. Having been working as a video game developer since 1995, Leavitt was serving as the lead developer for the title.
Leavitt confirmed the news via Twitter. He added that he will release a video on his YouTube channel soon to explain what happened.
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
Troy Leavitt Resigns Following Gamergate Controversy
The game's lead developer found himself in hot water in recent weeks. Fans alleged that he apparently sided with those blamed for attacking feminism in a video on his YouTube channel (embedded below). Furthermore, the rest of his channel's content is supposedly filled with reactionary videos that reflected similar controversial views and opinions.
Only weeks after news of this broke out, rumors broke out that the developers of Hogwarts Legacy were working hard to make the character creator more inclusive. In particular, there've been talks about including transgender options.
The part about having transgender options have yet to be confirmed. However, it is true that the game's developer maintains a YouTube channel. He also has yet to deny nor confirm the allegations nor take down the concerned video.
With that said, there's no confirmation as of yet as to what led to his resignation.
So far, Warner Bros. has yet to release an official statement themselves. The news also won't seem to affect the delayed 2022 release date of Hogwarts Legacy.
Hogwarts Legacy is scheduled to release in 2022 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows.
