Twitch streamers boycott platform over Hogwarts Legacy ad campaign

A group of prominent Twitch streamers have announced a boycott of the streaming platform while it shares adverts for Hogwarts Legacy.

The controversial video game has received a wave of backlashes over the past few years for its association with Harry Potter author JK Rowling.

As a result, LGBTQ+ activists have staged a boycott of the game as a way to avoid financially supporting the divisive author.

Twitch streamer Veronica Ripley, known online as Nikatine, took this a step further when she announced on Sunday (5 February) that she would be boycotting the site until it removed a series of advertisements for the game.

In a statement posted to social media, she wrote: “I was made aware of the extensive and blatant ad campaign for Hogwarts Legacy on Twitch, utilising and interrupting streams to promote this offensive product.

“I will not be streaming to Twitch while this ad campaign remains active.”

Twitch advertisements typically run in-between monetised streams and can include a variety of different products outside the streamer’s control.

Ripley told PinkNews that, while she wouldn’t be completely dropping Twitch, she felt the advertisements were forced upon her fanbase beyond her control.

“I haven’t been given any other option than forcing my community to endure ads for a product that many of us find harmful,” she said. “Creators deserve the freedom to choose what ads we associate with.”

As an act of solidarity, several other streamers have joined Ripley in the boycott, choosing to stream elsewhere until Twitch either drops the advertisements or chooses to allow creators to decide what is advertised on their content.

“I hope that this can be a springboard into a larger discussion about creator autonomy and advertising of products on streams and videos,” Ripley continued.

Streamer KiraChats said she would also be boycotting the site for a week to signal support for Ripley’s efforts.

Additionally, prominent YouTube star Matthew Hamlin, better known as UpisNotJump, responded that he supported the boycott “one billion per cent”.

Twitch streamers boycott Hogwarts Legacy altogether

While others may not be dropping the platform, they have shown their solidarity for the trans community by refusing to play the video game and, instead, donating its retail value to charity.

Twitch streamer Boba, who works with gaming multimedia company The Yogscast, created a fundraiser encouraging people to donate the £60 they would have used to buy the game.

At the time of writing, more than £7,300 has been donated to the UK trans charity Mermaids.

Additionally, Boba and members of The Yogscast raised more than £3.3m in last year’s “Jingle Jam” gaming fundraiser, which was donated to various charities, including Mermaids.

Speaking to PinkNews, Boba said she created the appeal after discussing the situation with a fan who was certain they wanted to play the game.

“They were really keen on it, they weren’t taking any criticism and were very much saying, ‘I’m going to play the game.’

“I gave them some information about everything and they came back and said, ‘Thank you, I read up on it more and I didn’t realise just how much the game was affecting the trans community.’”