An anonymous whistleblower has claimed they chose to leak the upcoming Fortnite crossover with Harry Potter in the hopes it would "ruin the surprise" for fans.
Publisher Epic Games officially announced its flagship battle royale video game would collaborate with the Wizarding World during a guest spot at the Game Awards earlier this week.
While the official crossover has yet to commence, developers followed the announcement with a set of Harry Potter themed cosmetics, including Hogwarts robes and a magical chocolate frog.
Rumours that the fantasy series could come to Fortnite circulated in November after anonymous leaker Fortnite Underground shared information suggesting a crossover was coming.
Reacting to Epic Games' confirmation of the leaks, the whistleblower opened up about their decision to "spoil" the collaboration, saying it was largely due to author J. K. Rowling's views on trans people.
In a statement on X/Twitter, they pointed to Rowling's engagement with the false claims that Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, who faced abuse during the 2024 Paris Olympics, was a closeted trans woman.
Rowling, alongside Elon Musk and others, were named in a criminal complaint filed on behalf of Khelif arguing they had engaged in "acts of aggravated cyber harassment" by fuelling the conspiracy theory.
Fortnite Underground said they believed it was impossible to separate Rowling's actions from the fantasy series that helps to fund them.
"There's been a sentiment around this collaboration that goes something like 'you can separate the art from the artist', but that is a significantly harder ask when the artist is using their royalties to fund lawsuits and legislation that intentionally damage the quality of life of transgender people around the world."
In May, Rowling announced the creation of the J. K. Rowling Women's Fund (JKRWF), which funds lawsuits and individuals fighting for so-called "sex-based rights".
The funding will come from Rowling's own pocket. Her net worth is estimated to be at least £820 million ($1.1 billion).
The whistleblower's hopes in leaking the crossover was that it would "ruin the surprise" and prompt less people to buy Harry Potter virtual items from the game's online marketplace.
They criticised Epic Games for the partnership and accused them of "rolling back" its annual Pride event Rainbow Royale, which did not take place this year.
"Most people won't care," they argued. "These outfits will probably sell pretty well, most people will be happy to see one of their favourite childhood franchises come to the game, and Epic Games and J. K. Rowling will make plenty of money.
"But I'm not okay with that, and I hope you're not okay with it either."
The crossover has prompted calls for a boycott of the game by some users online, who called for allies to "take a stand" by refusing to play.
"So awful," one user wrote. "The new gameplay is a lot of fun ... but now I won't be playing Fortnite any more."