Reviewers including No Pun Included, Shut Up & Sit Down boycott Codenames publisher CGE for releasing new Harry Potter game while ignoring JK Rowling’s anti-trans rhetoric

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1. In addition to Kovray, us other queer content creators also shit listed CGE on day one of the announcement on their instagram. Jayson of EzKat, myself of BoardGaymesJames, and Nat of BoardGaymerGirl.

   • Meanwhile, No Pun and SUSD highly recommend you go play another card game instead of that horrible Harry Potter Codenames with it’s anti trans-themes (everyone knows muggles are really a symbol for trans people). What game is that? Glad you asked. Go play Arkham Horror the card game . A game that clearly has no roots in racism or anti-semitism whatsoever.

     People with too much food.

2. Imagine some idiot doing something good and everyone and their mum say you must boycott it because it’s made by someone bad.

   You complain about other people being affected (by the person, not by the work) and youre going to boycott that work, which will result in affecting many many people working on this or putting their effort into it.

   That is literally canceling, and its trying to force someone to something via might.

   I repeat it for you: you try to force something, with might. Youre even trying to disrupt the whole company because of that.

   That is what is called toxic and egocentric, so you can sell your “morality superiority”. Some are racists, and think they are superior by race. Other are exactly like that, but use morality instead of race. And both are pathetic….

   You give a shit about all these people affected, just so you can celebrate your moral superiority which is completely constructed. If you want to influence people, cancel them, and affect them in a negative way – people that just do their work without harming anyone – then youre in no way better then JK Rowling. You’re using your platform, youre forcing someone and youre using your might.

   As someone who despises these thinks, I think everyone doing this is full of shit. I mean Efka was always exactly that. But didnt knew so many would chime in to ejaculate on their own morality, saying they protect people while in the same moment they give a shit about people and behave like they dont even exist…

   • @What – I can’t speak for everyone. Maybe you really are surrounded on all sides by vicious bad faith actors who want only to hurt and force their views on you, and maybe those people really are (somehow?) just as bad as racists.

     But like maybe take a step back and rethink some of this, because I know at least in this case that the people speaking out aren’t here to bludgeon you into joining some cult.

     It comes down to this: Rowling has consistently used her influence and finances to directly harm trans people. You either care about that or you don’t.

     You obviously don’t, and no group of board game reviewers can stop you from having that opinion. But when you take the stance you’re taking, you are literally saying that you do not care for the safety of trans people. When you double down on it and defend your stance, what message do you think you are broadcasting to the trans people around you?

     Now, take that message you’re broadcasting and multiply it a million times over. If you can imagine people feeling that way about who you are at your core, and hearing it every single day, and watching corners the world around you become increasingly hostile–if you can imagine that, you’ll start to understand what it’s like to be trans in 2025. If people have reacted to your messaging in ways that have made you feel upset or pressured, then it’s probably because you should absolutely feel upset and pressured. That’s how it works when you do something socially unacceptable and then double down on it.

     This isn’t some academic debate, this isn’t just some agenda to sell what we see as superior morals: this is group of people taking a stand in the only way they can to protect the people in their lives that they care about. It might look like a wizard word association game to you, but if you follow the trail of dominos long enough, a nonzero number of trans people will die because of this.

     You seem upset about how “egocentric” this all seems, but is it egocentric to use your influence to take a stand for the marginalized people around you? Or is it egocentric to look at an article like this and then take the opportunity to talk about how you don’t like being pressured to change your bad worldview?

     • I have honest question about statement “It comes down to this: Rowling has consistently used her influence and finances to directly harm trans people”. Do you have some examples which concerns you the most?

       • They never do. Nor will they ever have a quote that proves she hates trans people. Do you know why? Because the views she has are shared by the VAST majority of English speaking people in the world. Most people would agree with whatever it is they decide to quote. All she wants is female-centric spaces kept safe and that’s what MOST people want. When we segregate spaces, they are not segregated by GENDER. They are segregated by sex. But they can’t seem to tell the difference between the two, sadly.

         • Posted a couple below!

           Also, those views are not shared by the vast majority of English-speaking folks in the world, and we can tell the difference between gender and sex just fine.

       • > Do you have some examples which concerns you the most?

         They don’t. Because there’s none.

         • Posted a couple below!

       • Here are a couple:

         1) “Senator James Lankford, R-Okla., on Thursday blocked Senate consideration of the Equality Act, an LGBTQ civil rights bill, by citing ‘Harry Potter’ author J. K. Rowling’s recent blog post, which has been criticized as a ‘transphobic manifesto.'” (https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gop-senator-quotes-j-k-rowling-while-blocking-vote-lgbtq-n1231569)

         2) “Author JK Rowling has come under renewed scrutiny after reportedly donating £70,000 to For Women Scotland, the group that initiated the legal challenge resulting in a landmark UK Supreme Court ruling on transgender rights.” (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/120424732.cms)

         Related: “In response to the ruling, Rowling gloated in several X posts celebrating ‘terfs’ and referring to the ruling as ‘TERF VE Day’ a ‘play on V-E Day, the formal end of World War II and Nazi occupation in Europe,’ said USA Today. She capped off the thread with a photo of herself drinking a cocktail and smoking a cigar, captioned ‘I love it when a plan comes together.'” (https://theweek.com/feature/1020838/jk-rowlings-transphobia-controversy-a-complete-timeline)

         • Is that the best you can come up with?

           You state that a Rowling’s blog post, was criticized as a ‘transphobic manifesto.’” Just because someone critises it doesn’t mean the critisism is valid

           Why do you find it wrong that she donated her own money to a group that she supports? The group were sucessful with thier legal challange so does that not indiacte that she was right to support them?

           And with regards your 3rd point, it was a big day for her as she has been constantly attacked and threatened by the noisy minority.

         • @dehavilland OK, I’ll bite.

           First, you focused on whether her post is a transphobic manifesto or not. Doing so missed the larger point, that a key legislator quoted Rowling while he blocked passage of a civil rights bill. The bill would’ve extended protections to LGBTQ+ groups, so blocking it harmed trans folks. Pointing this out addresses some commenters above, that Rowling’s opinions haven’t harmed trans folks. This is an example of the harm.

           Next, you reduced careful analysis of Rowling’s blog post with just a few words, claiming the existence of criticism doesn’t mean it’s valid. There’s no indication you read and analyzed the criticism, or at least read the analysis of experts. Pretty much every civil rights group that’s read her post has labeled it as harmful to trans folks; more than a few have done so with logic and specificity. That meets the definition of a consensus. From there, the post’s length, detail, and reach meet the criteria of a manifesto. The post wasn’t a quick and vague snippet from a random everyday person. That it was quoted by the legislator mentioned above is another sign of its reach.

           Third, there’s more reductive reasoning in claiming Rowling’s merely donating money to a cause she supports. Doing so removes the impact of the funds, the nature of the group, and the influence the group had on recent legislation that harmed (and will continue to harm) trans folks. This, too, addresses previous comments on how Rowling hasn’t actually harmed trans folks; she has significantly and voluntarily funded that harm.

           Onto the subsequent point, it’s reductive to conflate legality with morality. Slavery was legal in many countries for centuries (if not millennia). Segregation was legal in the US for a century after abolition. Women didn’t have the right to vote in the US for roughly a century. Gay marriage isn’t legal in Japan. And so on. There are numerous examples of unjust laws in history and in current times. The only way a society progresses is by examining, evolving, and abolishing those unjust laws.

           Additionally, whether Rowling has been attacked or not isn’t the point of mentioning her celebratory posts (though I’ll address that bit in a moment). It’s to show further intention of her cause, that she seeks to harm trans folks. She gleefully labeled herself as a TERF, the first two words of which are “trans-exclusionary.” She’s been on a gradual downslide for years, starting when she Liked a transphobic tweet and claimed it was an accident. She can say all she wants about supporting the LGBT community. Her actions, some of which I mentioned above, belie her words. And feminism without trans women isn’t feminism; it’s just another form of oppression. Much like white supremacy, which first targets folks who aren’t white, and then looks inward to those who aren’t (by a rotten and repugnant definition) white enough.

           Lastly, Rowling is a wealthy and influential person. She earns more in a year than (through no fault of their own) many do in their lifetimes. Attacking her opinions – ones she’s clearly expressed in public domain – is the definition of punching up. And since they demonstrably harm a small, vulnerable group, that criticism is even more appropriate.

           Now, I totally get it’s easy to leave a brief comment to an article on the internet. We’re all busy. We all got a lot going on. And we can’t always express everything with nuance and detail. Next time, instead of dropping a quick rebuttal that skips most of what’s been said, try doing a bit more. It’s especially key when any at-risk community is involved, and trans folks are extremely at-risk.

           It’s sad, really, when all they want from us cis folks is to be left alone.

   • Not sure how your comment got past moderation calling people full of shit but let’s break down some misconceptions.

     What you’re describing is the Paradox of Tolerance

     “The paradox of tolerance, articulated by philosopher Karl Popper, suggests that if a society is endlessly tolerant, even to the intolerant, it risks being overtaken and destroyed by those intolerant views. In essence, a tolerant society must, paradoxically, be intolerant of those who promote intolerance, to protect its own foundation of tolerance.”

     Buying anything NEW HP in 2025 gives money directly to JK Rowling who then uses it to fund, very publically, efforts to erased, exterminate, trans people, who have every right to exist.

     Will good people get hurt along the way? Yes, and it is up to them to learn from their ignorance or intolerance and face those consequences, or continue to be on the wrong side of history.

     You don’t need to buy into any boycotts it’s your money, but what you indeed can’t do, is call those people who are actively trying to make the world a better place “full of shit”

     • I find what you wrote fascinating as I had never heard of the paradox of tolerance prior to this.

       Serious and genuine question – I get the stance against Rowling. What I don’t get is the relative quite about game designers who belong to religions that have taken often a very hostile view towards the lgtbq2 worldview.

       Muslim’s and some Christian faiths come to mind. And let’s be honest, the $ belonging to the church and used historically to shame, excommunicate, exorcise, and kill gay people would put JK’s $ to shame.

       I think if all of these publishers were honest and carried the weight of their convictions, then examine the religious position of every game designer prior to promoting them.

     • > JK Rowling who then uses it to fund, very publically, efforts to erased, exterminate, trans people, who have every right to exist.

       This is total bullshit.

     • You write “gives money directly to JK Rowling who then uses it to fund, very publically, efforts to erased, exterminate, trans people, who have every right to exist” Do you have a shred of evidence to support that?

   • Presumably, Rowling and/or WB are charging CGE a handsome sum for the use of the Harry Potter IP. A fair bit of this money thus goes back to Rowling. She then uses that money to fight against trans rights and support anti-trans legislation. Boycotting this is a very moral thing to do.

     You remind me of the character Badger from Firefly, who takes offense at Malcolm Reynolds being “pretentious”, saying “You think you’re better than other people.” To which Mal’s obvious answer is “Only the ones I’m better than.”

   • It would be infinitely preferable if you just dropped the pretense and said you hate trans people.

   • People have morals and principles. For example, in principle you are a moron.

   • white whinger spotted. I encourage you imagine caring about people, and to go back to kindergarten to learn the concept of “Actions and Consequences.” Y’all’re always about individual freedoms until it comes to anyone else having an opinion.

3. Given that the trans debate is still at so many different positions worldwide it seems immensely unwise to take such fixed positions that the conversation ends and would be allies are excoriated and the chance for an educative approach is lost. Expecting the entire world to change overnight is unrealistic, stop building barriers, build bridges.

   • It’s not a debate. It’s people’s lives. It’s people trying to be accepted in the world for who they are. It was turned into a debate by cynical billionaires and politicians over the past decade and a half.

     Just a few years ago, the NBA All Star Game left a city because that state passed a bathroom ban. The “debate” was settled. Polite society considered trans people as people. But people of hate decided to push for something else, and turned it into a debate. The world *did* change overnight, and it changed to hate.

     Trans people are most likely to die by suicide, and in some states of the US there are legal defenses to murder them. I think I’ll build barriers. A wall you can’t jump off. A bridge you can.

   • Hilarious these people don’t live in the real world XD
     Kids and normal people don’t care about Jkr’s mild views on this nonsense

   • Well, why don’t you go tell that to J. K. Rowling? She’s the unwise powerful person financing segregation and building barriers against trans people. According to her and other transphobes, even bathrooms shouldn’t be places for trans people. And it’s not a matter of education, as if she were a poor marginalised person. She has ALL the means to get educated on the subject, she simply does not want to.

4. […] Brewster, editor-in-chief of the popular review site Shut Up & Sit Down, told BoardGameWire that the site would not cover CGE games for the foreseeable […]

5. In a world where a few thousand games come out every year, and many are re-themed IP implementations, I don’t see much harm in critics using their limited platform to quickly call a publisher out, not covering those releases, and focus their efforts elsewhere. Permanently boycott? Eh, I don’t know about that. Publishers, like everyone, should get a chance to learn and improve, but I don’t think they will if there are no consequences. It was a poor decision to join up with a billionaire anti-Trans lobbyist, and doing so deserves attention. The publisher made their choice, some critics have too. Consumers will have their chance to decide on the consequences.

   • Barbara Streisand Effect inbound. It will sell like hotcakes now. That’s what will likely happen. This level of unhinged outrage in the board game community is less than surprising. Most of the outrage mob who run publishing companies can’t stand someone with a different opinion than theirs.

6. I’ll definitely be sure to pick up a copy now.

   • Me too dor sure

7. Buncha bullies getting on the bully bandwagon.

   I am no JK Rowling fan. But y’all have built her up into this mythical demon, hellbent on ‘harming’ trans people.

   Meanwhile, y’all are out here literally seeking to do harm, to force a game company to comply with your opinions. Not because the game company is hateful. Not because the game is hateful. Not because the IP it is based on is hateful. But because y’all have decided that it is not enough to boycott the actual thing you have a problem with, but anything else in the vicinity.

   (And I bet you get offended when there is collateral damage in Gaza, but here it is not only morally justified, but a moral imperative! Sorry, creators of Galaxy Trucker, but you you shouldn’t have made a game that got published by a company who made another game that is based on a movie series that was based on a children’s book written by a woman who foolishly decided to stand up for women’s rights.)

   Seriously, how many of you have read what she actually said, and not just *about* what she said? What ‘harm’ has been dealt? Someone’s feelings got hurt? I am not being rhetorical. Enlighten me. Show me the actual damage, not just the talk about what a horrible bigot she is.

   The witch hunting and McCarthyism at work here is ridiculous. And y’all are either going to fall victim to it yourselves eventually, or the backlash will snap back so strong that it will bypass reasonable and swing into an entirely different flavor of completely awful.

   It is ok for people to debate current social issues. It is ok for people to hold different opinions. Discussion is how you influence those who disagree, to convince people that your ideas are better. Not force. Not censorship. And definitely not a freaking lynch mob.

   • Funny how you can skew language to your liking. A stupid person would read your comment and believe the bullies are the people who stand up for trans lives, and the victim is the poor millionaire who finances hate groups, a saint who defends poor women from evil transgenders. J. K. Rowling is not being lynched, as we can see in this very page, she earns money enough to live more than comfortably and even donate the earnings of licensed products to transphobic groups and politicians. Trans people worldwide are being murdered and stripped of their rights.

8. This talibanism, this “either you absolutely hate and abhor JK Rowling and everything that has to do with her and everyone socializing with her or you’re a TERF and you’re HURTING trans people” is exactly what got Trump elected and is getting us all to hell.

   Keep up the “good” work, guys. I’m sure things will get better this way.

   • > is exactly what got Trump elected

     Bingo.

   • Of course, trans people are the ones to blame when a paedophile rapist gets elected. At least we can admit all their voters are bigoted.

     • Trans people are not the ones to blame.

       Trans people and trans “allies” that demand 100% compliance with the current orthodoxy are the ones to blame for Trump.

       Are his voters bigoted? Some. Are his voters stupid? Some. But you guys gave him those votes in a silver platter.

9. I support the trans community and I WILL purchase Harry Potter ip.

   There is a prominent trans character in Harry Potter Legacy. Warner Bothers is working hard to protect their large investment in the Harry Potter ip. They are making a new series on HBO with minority representation.

   Boycotting anything Harry Potter at this time is not going to send the message people think. JKR is beyond rich and any residual income she receives at this point is no more than a speck of dust in the expansive backyard of her surmountable wealth.

   Forget her. Warner Brothers is creating a wizarding world for everyone.

10. 10 years ago this stuff didnt exist… lOl
    What will the next “justice topic” be? the world is getting sick of these crybullies, their tactics don’t work (see budlight, hershey, etc) anymore bc people who aren’t terminally online have pattern recognition.

    • Very intelligent observation: transgenders didn’t exist 10 years ago. Applause. 👏👏👏

11. I don’t understand this.
    Did Harry Potter Hogwarts Battle and its publishers got the same backslash?
    What changed?
    I’m pretty sure Rowlings views didn’t change.

    Shut up and Sit down seems to even talked about the game on their podcast.
    https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/tag/harry-potter-hogwarts-battle/

    What about all other Harry Potter games and publishers that publish such games?
    CGE is definitely not the only publisher that publish Harry Potter games.

12. I support this 100%. Good for those who boycott this.

13. So its OK for shsd to boycott a game over lgbt but they fully support russian publishers funding war crimes and child bombing (“earthborne rangers anyone)

    Hmm. Not sure they have their priorities right here.

    • What the flying **** are you talking about?
      Earthborne Rangers is designed and published by a US company.

14. […] sprechen sich nun viele Personen in der Szene aus. Darunter Efka Bladukas von No Pun Included, Tom Brewster von Shut up & Sit Down, Elizabeth […]

15. This selective outrage and boycott against CGE is frankly, hypocritical. If your ‘principles’ dictate that you must boycott anything that financially benefits J.K. Rowling, then where is the consistent, public outcry and boycott against Warner Bros.? Are you really going to tell us you’re boycotting all WB content – including the massive new Harry Potter TV show, or even other WB films like the Dune movies, just because money flows through that same company?

    Boycotting a specific game because you disagree with its licensing is one thing – that’s a choice. But boycotting an entire company that contributes significantly to the very hobby you claim to represent, while conveniently overlooking other, much larger financial pipelines to the person you object to, is not only inconsistent but deeply disingenuous. It reeks of performative activism, cherry-picking what’s easy to protest rather than genuinely upholding your ‘beliefs’.

16. Why would they announce it on BlueSky of all places? If they’d announced it anywhere else it would go under activists’ radars and be just as uncontroversial as Stupefy! that Repos released a couple years ago

17. […] vinden dat CGE profiteert van een merk dat gelinkt is aan anti‑trans‑uitspraken van Rowling [2]. Beide reviewers kondigden aan geen spellen van CGE meer te […]

18. […] Reviewers including No Pun Included, Shut Up & Sit Down boycott Codenames publisher CGE for rele… […]

19. […] Reviewers including No Pun Included, Shut Up & Sit Down boycott Codenames publisher CGE for rele… […]

20. Funny, because Shut Up & Sit Down has never had a female reviewer on the payroll.

21. I’m sure this has been mentioned before. For those that advocate boycotting this company then they should, by the same reasoning, boycott all game companies that have their games printed in China. However few if any of the permanently offended would do such a thing as it would be too inconvenient for them and it is far easier targetting one small european game publishing company .

    The permanently offended would no doubt try and argue that that is different but in reality it isn’t . A proportion of all the profits made by the printing companies go the the Chinese governement and I suspect their record on Trans rights is somewhat worse than JKRs.

    From my perspective I have no probelm with Trans people, if your were born and man but feel like you are a women and dress as such that is up to you. However like JKR I draw the line when said person wants to join in female only sports or go into female safe spaces.

22. […] https://boardgamewire.com/index.php/2025/07/29/reviewers-including-no-pun-included-shut-up-sit-down-…Algunos de los críticos más importantes e influyentes del mundo de los juegos de mesa (como No Pun Included, Shut Up & Sit Down) están boicoteando al editor de Codenames, Czech Games Edition, después de que la empresa decidiera lanzar una nueva versión del juego con temática de Harry Potter a pesar de los años de campaña en contra de los trans por parte de la creadora del personaje, JK Rowling.CGE se enfrentó inmediatamente a una reacción en línea tras desvelar Codenames: Back to Hogwarts en la red social BlueSky el 23 de julio. El anuncio recibió cientos de respuestas que atacaban la decisión antes de que la cuenta de Codenames bloqueara los comentarios y desactivara la función que permitía a los usuarios compartir la publicación junto con sus propios comentarios.Las continuas críticas en línea se intensificaron dos días después, cuando CGE publicó un breve comunicado en el que intentaba justificar su decisión de lanzar el juego, que fue criticado por hacer todo lo posible por evitar mencionar a Harry Potter o a JK Rowling por su nombre.Esta declaración también fue inmediatamente criticada en Internet por su intento de separar el arte de la artista, sin tener en cuenta que Rowling, multimillonaria gracias a Harry Potter, ha utilizado los beneficios de su creación para financiar directamente a organizaciones que intentan despojar a las personas trans de sus derechos.«El vasto mundo de la magia que aparece en el próximo Codenames ha sido una fuente de inspiración. Encendió nuestra pasión por aprender inglés y explorar nuevos mundos a través de la lectura. Dio forma a nuestra infancia, despertó nuestra imaginación o nos reconfortó en tiempos difíciles. […]

23. […] (1) CGE’S HARRY POTTER-THEMED GAME STARTS KERFUFFLE. BoardGameWire reports a Harry Potter-themed game has been boycotted by some reviewers over J.K. Rowling’s anti-trans campaigning. In turn publisher Czech Games Edition (CGE) has issued a statement trying to separate the artist from the creation, and blocked a large number of users from posting complaints on its Bluesky page. “Reviewers including No Pun Included, Shut Up & Sit Down boycott Codenames publisher CGE for r…. […]

24. […] to the heavy criticism which continues to be levelled at Codenames publisher Czech Games Edition, which is currently under boycott from some of board gaming’s biggest and most influential revi… after deciding to release a new Harry Potter-themed version of the game, despite years of […]