The Harry Potter video game 'Hogwarts Legacy' is here, and topping sales charts — despite the JK Rowling controversy

• "Hogwarts Legacy" was at the top of the Steam PC and PlayStation Store sales charts on Friday.
• It's received largely favorable critics reviews, and many players seem to be loving it.
• The early success comes despite backlash over Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling's anti-trans comments.

The long in-the-works and highly anticipated Harry Potter video game "Hogwarts Legacy" debuted on Friday, and is topping sales charts.

The game was the No. 1 game on the online PC games distributor Steam on Friday, as well as on the PlayStation Store. 

The game had been topping charts ahead of its release, too, in presales as well as with advanced copies some players could get early access with this week if they paid more for the Deluxe Edition.

Last month, it was the PlayStation Store's top-selling game in the "coming soon" category.

"Hogwarts Legacy" is an open-world role-playing game set in the Harry Potter universe during the 1800s, and the player plays as a student at Hogwarts during that time. It's now available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and will come to old-generation consoles and Nintendo Switch this summer.

Players seem to be loving the game so far. It had a 9.1 out of 10 user score as of early Friday on the review aggregator Metacritic, based on over 900 reviews. And it's received largely favorable reviews from professional critics, with an 85 out of 100 critic score on Metacritic.

"Its open world map absolutely nails the vibe of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, it has spellcasting combat that's stupefyingly good, the characters that inhabit it are charming and unforgettable, and it is positively brimming with countless diversions to soak up dozens of hours of your time," Travis Northup wrote for IGN.

The game's early success is in the face of some calls for a boycott over Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling's past anti-trans comments.

Rowling's public rhetoric began in 2020, when she tweeted, in part, "erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives."

Her stance has prompted some to call for a boycott of "Hogwarts Legacy," including trans YouTuber Jessie Earl, who goes by Jessie Gender and has 200,000 subscribers.

Warner Bros. Games, which released "Hogwarts Legacy," wrote on the game's FAQ page that Rowling was "not directly involved in the creation of the game."

It's unclear if, and how much, she'd be compensated for the game, though. Warner Bros. Games did not respond to requests for comment.

Rowling has vast control over the Harry Potter franchise. Warner Bros. struck a deal with her in 2013 to release new content based on the Harry Potter universe, including the "Fantastic Beasts" movies.

It's unclear how any deal has evolved since, but Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav in November expressed an interest in doing "something with J.K. on Harry Potter going forward."