Marketing in a Hostile Environment

The development and release of Hogwarts Legacy was met with heavy criticism and boycotts, despite all this it sold incredibly well and enjoyed a massive amount of earned media. Starting from the beginning when it was announced that part of the plot involved a player shutting down a goblin rebellion people were quick to point out anti-semitic stereotypes displayed by the Goblins, additionally there were attempts to censor the game because of J.K. Rowling's anti-trans remarks. When Hogwarts Legacy was released there was not only a boycott against the purchase of the game but a boycott against streaming it. While many Twitch streamers took part in the boycott others did not. Those who opted to stream the game were getting bullied by the boycotters, the vitriol of which ended up becoming a bigger story than the boycott itself. Streamers who played the game despite the campaign such as popular VTuber Silvervale earned headlines in their response to the boycott. The boycott, the streamers, and the controversy all garnered significant earned media which helped Hogwarts Legacy sell over 12 million copies.

https://www.dexerto.com/hogwarts-legacy/hogwarts-legacy-sells-12m-copies-and-earns-850m-in-just-two-weeks-despite-boycott-attempt-2069921/