Correction: it was originally reported that Troy Leavitt’s role on the project was lead designer.
He title was, in fact, senior producer.
It’s almost like GamerGate 2.0. The problem, as I see it, is that we as journalists have a choice to make. We can either hold fast to the tenants of journalism or abandon those tenants in favor of activism. What tenants are those? In general—although you can see those that I hold—a journalist should have respect for the facts and the public’s right to the truth. In so far as that is concerned, Hogwarts Legacy is a turning point for journalism.
Unfortunately, I have yet to read an article that doesn’t frame former senior producer Troy Leavitt’s views as bigoted, hateful, or otherwise objectionable. Instead, the salient points of Leavitt’s arguments—as expressed on YouTube—are obscured by using, ironically, only his video titles.
All you see is “In Defense of John Lasseter” and “Nolan Bushnell Did Nothing Wrong.” As the reading public, you don’t see that Leavitt’s “defense” of Lasseter was to hope that he learns and seeks forgiveness from those he wronged. You don’t see that Bushnell’s ex-employees are outraged at the reporting that seeks to paint him as a “toxic” employer. On that last point, a recent report on Hogwarts Legacy from Kotaku said, “Kotaku’s reporting found [Nolan Bushnell] to have fostered a toxic work environment for women.”
However, the article that Kotaku links to as evidence of this environment quoted one of those women as saying, “It’s drive-by assassination…There’s a collective anger amongst us toward the individuals who made this [Atari’s environment] a big deal.”
If you were a blogger or an amateur reporter, you could be forgiven for not taking the time to investigate your subject—or neglecting to report what you’ve found. Assuming you made these mistakes in good faith, that is.
If you are a professional journalist who holds sway over public opinion, well, then the standards are slightly higher, aren’t they?
The consequences for journalists are higher as well, and rightfully so.
If you are not presenting facts, or you’re obscuring them, you aren’t participating in journalism—you’re participating in activism. There is nothing wrong with activism, of course, but that’s not the job of a journalist. If a journalist is participating in activism rather than reporting the facts, the consequence is lost trust. If the public loses confidence in games journalism because of Hogwarts Legacy, we will have earned it.
Even the standard for a journalist’s opinions is higher than for the average person because the public expects that our thoughts are rooted in fact—not cherry-picked because of our emotional attachment to the subject. That’s what rookies do, and rookie opinions are a dime a dozen.
If we don’t put facts first, some of us will even preemptively attempt to protect ourselves from the ensuing backlash against journalists—thinking that if we get out in front of it, we will be absolved of our guilt.
However, if we, as journalists, expect to be taken seriously, we need to earn it. Not through hot-takes, but through hard work and dedication to presenting the facts.
The Wolf's Gameboard 