Troy Leavitt, the lead designer of Avalanche Studio’s upcoming game Hogwarts Legacy, has come under scrutiny over videos he made criticising feminism and social justice in the gaming industry.
Hogwarts Legacy lead designer Troy Leavitt has an old Youtube channel he probably doesn’t want you to know about. This development comes after the game’s publisher Warner Brothers decided to distance themselves from original creator JK Rowling over her tirade of transphobic statements on Twitter.
The news was first broken by Liam Robertson, who shared a screenshot of Leavitt’s YouTube page showing a host of videos that target pro-feminist gaming figures as well as defending misogynistic figures in the gaming industry. Most concerning of which are his videos defending John Lasseter, who left Pixar over sexual misconduct allegations in 2017, and Nolan Bushnell, the Atari co-founder who harboured a sexist work environment.
In Leavitt’s videos defending Lasseter and Bushell, he equates the #MeToo movement to nothing more than moral panic, as well as downplaying the allegations held against Lasseter.
However, the publisher doesn’t seem to be concerned with Leavitt’s statements on his YouTube channel. Leavitt claims he had disclosed this information to Warner Brothers before accepting the job, and they didn’t seem phased about his comments.
I know this is just shocking but the lead designer of Hogwarts Legacy is Troy Leavitt, a far right YouTuber who used to make anti-fem and pro GG vids: https://t.co/kDNm9ri9zH pic.twitter.com/w3dDy0YXe4
— Liam Robertson (@Doctor_Cupcakes) February 20, 2021
Leavitt’s YouTube channel has amassed a total of 2,000,000 views with 26,000 subscribers. His most popular videos attack Anita Sarkeesian, a notable feminist critic of the gaming industry who received death threats over her critiques.
It should be noted that Robertson has no intentions of “cancelling” Leavitt. He states that he wanted to share this public information and let the people decide whether they wanted to support the project.
I want to make something clear here – I'm not trying to "cancel" anyone. I just wanted to let people know this because I feel like it's something people might like to know before deciding whether to support this project. This is all public info and there for anyone to find.
— Liam Robertson (@Doctor_Cupcakes) February 20, 2021
Hogwarts Legacy is set to be released in 2022. Hopefully by then, fans of the franchise will be able to enjoy their beloved childhood stories without the bigoted views of those creating them seeping in.
