EA Decided to Junk a Harry Potter MMO Since They Didn’t Believe in Its Staying Power
A Harry Potter MMO was reportedly in the works at Electronic Arts. Sadly for the franchise’s massive fan base, the publisher opted to cancel it. Apparently, they doubted the longevity of the franchise at the time.
“EA came ever so close to developing a Harry Potter MMO,” EA’s former Director of Product Marketing Kim Salzer revealed. “But, it was not meant to be.”
According to Salzer, the Harry Potter MMO was pretty far along in development—or, at least, far enough to have a beta version. It was a combination of both offline and online gaming experiences. Salzer said that the project was going to incorporate the players’ real life by sending them items, such as prizes and ribbons that they could have won in the game.
It remains unclear precisely when the Harry Potter MMO got canned. It is worth noting, however, that Salzer was with the company from 2000 to 2003. The franchise’s first two movies were on big screens within this time frame.
The team “thoroughly researched” for the game. They were “very confident” in its success. “It was killed—for lack of a better term,” Salzer continued. “They just did not know or believe enough that that IP would have a shelf life longer than a year or two.”
Boy, were they wrong.
Warner Bros. Games is going to launch Hogwarts Legacy next year. Although this is the first gaming project for the franchise in a while, it is far from being the first. During the peak of Harry Potter, multiple games in its name were available. It has been 20 years since the first movie came out, and it remains to be a big IP that fans want to see more from.
Do you want a Harry Potter MMO? Let us know in the comments below.