Quidditch Champions: new Harry Potter game features option to use they/them pronouns
A new Quidditch-based video game set in the world of Harry Potter features the option to have your character use they/them pronouns.
Released today (3 September), Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is a video game centred around the magical pastime of Quidditch – an in-universe sport from the JK Rowling-created Harry Potter franchise.
Featuring broomsticks, the golden snitch, quaffles and more, the game lets players create their own character to rise through the ranks of the Quidditch world, from Hogwarts house team to World Cup.
Players have noticed, since the game’s release, that when creating their character and selecting which pronouns to use for the dialogue by in-game commentators, that there is an option to assign they/them pronouns – often used by non-binary, trans, genderfluid and other gender non-conforming individuals.
Many social media users have commented on how this option to self-identify as non-binary seems to be at odds with JK Rowling’s public stance on gender.
Harry Potter author Rowling is well-known for her gender critical views. The release of Harry Potter spin-off video game Hogwarts Legacy in February 2023 increased the volume of conversation around her public statements and their impact on the trans community, with many LGBTQ+ people and allies opting to boycott the game altogether.
In December 2022, Rowling targeted a trans gaming journalist and video producer who suggested boycotting new Harry Potter releases, including Hogwarts Legacy.
After gamer Jessie Earl tweeted that she believed continuing to purchase new Harry Potter products was “harmful”, Rowling shared a screenshot of the post with her 14 million followers accusing Earl of “purethink” and equating a boycott to book-burning.
Earl responded in kind, noting that Rowling’s argument was “nonsensical” and that the writer “knows she’s sending harassment my way.”
So the fact that Quidditch Champions features they/them pronouns has certainly got a lot of people talking.
“A Harry Potter game with the They/Them pronoun option[s]??” one wrote alongside some laughing emojis.
Another added: “Since it was free on [PlayStation], I gave Quidditch Champions a shot. Not bad. And the devs threw this in: The options are he/him, she/her, and of course…they/them.”
A third claimed: “The new Harry Potter game Quidditch Champions lets users use they/them pronouns and I just know JK Rowling would be seething if she knew.”
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions was published by Warner Bros. Games under its Portkey Games label; the same studio that made recent Hogwarts-based RPG Hogwarts Legacy.
Reviews for the game, which is available on both PC and consoles, have been “mostly positive” according to Steam.
One user called the mechanics “clunky”, and wrote that tackling other players was “nauseatingly difficult.” They added: “Switching players is unintuitive and your AI teammates don’t understand positioning.”
Another wrote that Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions “feels more like a mobile app than a full-fledged console or PC game.”
Others have been more positive, commenting on the nostalgia of the game, and, ironically, the customer characterisation. One fan wrote: “The game is fun and fast, and fairly difficult depending on your dedication.”
