Troy Leavitt has announced that he's resigned from his position at Avalanche Software. Leavitt was a producer on the forthcoming Harry Potter game Hogwarts Legacy, a game that has attracted controversy because of series creator J.K. Rowling's heel-turn into transphobia in recent years. The reputation of Hogwarts Legacy wasn't helped by the discovery Leavitt had been a reactionary YouTuber with a channel containing videos in defense of GamerGate, and critical of social justice and Anita Sarkeesian's Feminist Frequency series.
Leavitt wrote that, "I have nothing but good things to say about the game, the dev team, and WB Games" and unsurprisingly "will be releasing a YouTube Video about this soon on my channel." In a follow-up tweet, he continued, "I felt absolutely secure in my position. However, I still wanted to resign for reasons that I will explain in that forthcoming video. I'm in excellent spirits and very pleased with my relationship with WB and Avalanche."
To clarify: I felt absolutely secure in my position. However, I still wanted to resign for reasons that I will explain in that forthcoming video . I’m in excellent spirits and very pleased with my relationship with WB and Avalanche. 😄👍March 5, 2021
Leavitt's YouTube videos were highlighted by Liam Robertson, creator of the Did You Know Gaming series. Robertson explained that, "I feel like it's something people might like to know before deciding whether to support this project" and noted in particular Leavitt's video 'In Defense of John Lasseter', in which he described the #MeToo movement as "moral panic."
In a video titled 'Bushnell Did Nothing Wrong!', Leavitt claimed his employers at WB Games knew about his YouTube sideline, and didn't have a problem with it. "Not that they endorse anything that I've said, of course," he said, "but at least they seem more concerned with making good games than with pushing some kind of a social-justice agenda, so there is hope."
According to a recent Bloomberg report some of the developers working on Hogwarts Legacy fought to make the game more inclusive, and it will apparently feature a "trans-inclusive" character creator.
