EA almost made a Harry Potter MMO two decades ago

Back before Harry Potter was a franchise massive enough for its own theme parks — along with a spinoff film series and an upcoming open-world game — Electronic Arts almost made a MMO.

Before the publication of the sixth book in 2003, the project had been under construction. Harry Potter and The Half-Blood PrinceKim Salzer was the director of product marketing for EA. Now, Salzer is the chief market officer for Original Gamer Life and mentioned the game in the original article. recent Twitch stream that the company hosted.

“Sometimes, I just don’t know where to start,” said Salzer, when asked about which project she was saddest to see die on the vine during her time in the games industry. “But 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.”

Salzer continued to explain the project by stating that EA had built a beta version and conducted all necessary research. EA had even planned to mail prizes and ribbons to players in what Salzer called a “combination offline/online experience.”

The project was ultimately cancelled. “EA was going through some changes at that time,” said Salzer, “and they just didn’t know, or believe enough, that that IP would have a shelf life longer than a year or two.”

While Salzer didn’t give an exact year in her interview, her tenure at EA coincided with the releases of the first two Harry Potter films — it was a time when the Harry Potter series was beginning to transcend the original books. EA was the sole owner of the Harry Potter video games rights, publishing over 10 titles between 2000-2011. However, the MMO wasn’t.

Warner Bros. controls all of Wizarding World’s franchises that developed out of Harry Potter. This includes the video games rights via its Portkey Games brand. Avalanche Software’s Hogwarts LegacyFor a 2022 release, this title is being developed. The game has been scrutinized since its announcement in 2020 due to series creator J.K. Rowling’s recent history of transphobic remarks.