Would a Harry Potter MMO by EA have worked?
Back in the 2000s, Harry Potter was a relatively unknown name. Outside of the people that loved the books, Harry Potter wasn’t a cash cow. Because of this, Electronic Arts hesitated to release an MMO based on the novels. Details about this unannounced and canceled MMO came straight out of Kim Salzer, who served as director of product marketing at EA at the time.
It almost happened but #EA cancelled it. They did the research and even a beta version of the game, but didn’t think Harry Potter was going to be around more than a few years.#harrypotter #hogwarts #voldemort #mmo #metaverse #multiverse pic.twitter.com/bt5u6YQ2oe — OGL: Original Gamer Life (@OGLifeOGL) December 22, 2021 According to Salzer, who is now the chief marketing officer at a new firm called Original Gamer Life, EA was actively working on a Harry Potter MMO between 2000 and 2003. This meant that the game was in development just as Harry Potter was gaining notoriety with 2001’s The Philosopher’s Stone and 2002’s Chamber of Secrets both releasing in theaters back-to-back. Salzer revealed the surprising news in an interview when asked about canceled projects that made her feel sad the most. She explained that she was “so personally involved” in the project. When asked to elaborate further, Salzer added that the development team had already gone as far as to build a beta and do all the necessary research. There were also plans for EA to market the game by mailing players prizes and ribbons. Unfortunately, despite being deep in development, EA decided to cancel the project. She then said that EA just didn’t “believe enough that the IP would have a shelf life longer than a year or two.” Of course, as we’ve already mentioned, we now know that Harry Potter’s shelf life has spanned more than two decades. Then again, you can’t exactly blame EA for not wanting to take such a massive risk. The 2000s were the golden age of MMOs. A subpar product based on an unproven IP would not have worked as well. But, we’d be lying if we didn’t say that we’re intrigued about how well the game would have done had EA pushed through with its original plans. If it’s any consolation, EA did end up publishing around a dozen Harry Potter games, but the publisher never revisited its ideas for the scrapped MMO. The good news here is that 2022 is a great year for Potterheads. For starters, there’s the Harry Potter reunion special that’s set to release on HBO Max on January 1, 2022. Meanwhile, Avalanche Software’s Harry Potter game, Hogwarts Legacy, is scheduled to release in 2022. Finally, the first trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, just dropped ahead of its April 8, 2022 premiere.
