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Hogwarts Legacy Developer Quits Following Controversy Over YouTube Channel


Troy Leavitt, the former lead game designer who was at the center of a controversy last month after it was discovered that he had a "a reactionary YouTube channel focused on attacking feminism and social justice", has resigned from his position at Warner Bros. development studio Avalanche Software, developers of the controversial Harry Pottergame Hogwarts Legacy.

Over on Twitter, Leavitt has announced his decision to "part ways" with Avalanche Software:

Leavitt went on to say that he will soon be releasing a YouTube video about his decision.

Last month, Did You Know Gaming? contributor Liam Robertson highlighted Leavitt's YouTube channel on Twitter. He tweeted an accompanying screenshot that shows a small portion of Leavitt's channel.

"Among Leavitt's...videos are lengthy defenses of both John Lasseter, the Pixar co-founder who left his position at Disney in 2017 after allegations of sexual misconduct, and Nolan Bushnell, the Atari co-founder who Kotaku's reporting found to have fostered a toxic work environment for women," Kotaku reported in February. "In some of his videos, Leavitt expressed support for Gamergate, a movement that fostered harassment against women and other minorities in the gaming industry, and criticized Anita Sarkeesian's Tropes vs. Women series as an "uninformed fringe position." Leavitt discussed his opinions on Gamergate in-depth during a 2017 interview, saying, "Gamergate, while painful at times, on the whole proved to be a good thing."

Hogwarts Legacy, the upcoming action RPG set in the late 1800s in the Wizarding World, is set to release for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S in 2022.

Related: Harry Potter RPG Will Reportedly Allow Players to Create Transgender Characters

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