EA‘s former director of product marketing from 2000-2003, Kim Salzer has said in an interview that it was planning to release a Harry Potter themed MMO but dropped the project believing the franchise would only last “a year or two”.
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As spotted by VGC, in an Twitch interview with Original Gamer Life the former EA executive claimed that EA had “thoroughly researched” a Harry Potter MMO, which would blend an online and real life experience. The intention was that the game aimed at children, would also send “prizes and ribbons and stuff like that” out to the players.
EA came ever so close to developing a Harry Potter MMO. But it wasn't meant to be… #harrypotter #ea #mmo #videogame #hogwarts @OrigGamerLife pic.twitter.com/Dbux383HXY
— The Real Brandolorian (@Brandolorian17) December 21, 2021
What is more surprising than the existence of an online multiplayer game to tie in with the famous wizarding franchise, which was already successful in the cinema by this time, is the reason why EA decided to drop the project. According to Salzer, EA was going through many changes and believed the IP did not have the longevity required for the MMOs success.
“We did all the research, we had the beta built out, it was a combination offline-online experience where we’d actually mail stuff to the kids, like prizes and ribbons and stuff like that.”
“Thoroughly researched, very confident in the success of this. But it was killed, for lack of a better term, because EA was going through 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.”
Not all games based on the popular franchise have been a success. Niantic was confident in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite a Pokémon Go style AR game based on the wizarding world. However, after disappointing results, it announced that the game will shut down in January. Whether EA’s game would have been a success will never be known.
In other news, according to a new survey, a thousand female gamers ranked Animal Crossing: New Horizons as the most inclusive video game.
The post ‘Harry Potter’ MMO dropped by EA says former director appeared first on NME.
