Electronic Arts Scrapped A Harry Potter MMO Due To Lack Of Faith In The Franchise
Electronic Arts was apparently working on a Harry Potter MMO between 2000 and 2003 but ultimately decided to Avada Kedavra the title. Former EA Director of Product Marketing Kim Salzer revealed that the game had made it to beta testing before it was scrapped due to undisclosed changes within the company and an overall lack of faith in the popularity of the franchise.
“EA was going through some changes at that time, and they just didn't know, or believe enough, that that IP would have a shelf life longer than a year or two,” said Salzer.
According to Polygon, Salzer is now working as the Chief Marketing Officer for Original Gamer Life, a platform and community for gamers, and revealed the cancelled Harry Potter title during a Twitch stream hosted by the company. When she was asked about previously cancelled projects, Salzer responded with, “A big one for me, because I was so personally involved in it and it's such a huge IP that has lived on, is a online massively multiplayer game for Harry Potter.”
According to Salzer, the game would have had both an online and offline component where the players would receive physical items as rewards for their in-game achievements.
Warner Bros. and its development studio Portkey Games now holds the rights to the Harry Potter franchise and have since published several games based on the IP, including Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, Harry Potter: Puzzles and Spells, and Harry Potter: Magic Awakened. The studio is also working with Avalanche Software on an open-world game called Harry Potter Legacy that’s set before the events in the books and films. The game is slated for release sometime in 2022.
Meanwhile, the Harry Potter franchise continues to grow with Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore coming out next year and the HBO Max Harry Potter special airing on January 1st to celebrate the first film’s 20th anniversary.
