When Harry Potter was still releasing his first movies, EA had the rights to the video games and was planning to release an MMO from this world. However, they canceled it, a decision that must still hurt, mostly because of the excitement surrounding the launch of Hogwarts Legacy.
Back in the 2000s, when Harry Potter he was releasing his first films, EA had the rights to the video games of this magical world. One of the many plans that the company wanted to make was to launch an MMO, something that could have been a success. However, since they did not believe in the strength of the IP, they canceled it. Now, with all the enthusiasm that the world of Potter (mostly with the next Hogwarts Legacy now delayed to February 2023), EA must be regretting every day.
Harry Potter it is one of the most valuable IPs today. No matter how many years go by since the books were published and the first movies were released, multiple generations continue to enjoy that world and consume every new product and project that comes out, be it movies or video games.
Despite what I believed Electronic Artsthe enthusiasm generated by Hogwarts Legacy makes it clear that there is still a lot of potential for an MMO set in the wizarding world. Although it remains to wait a while for the next game of Harry Potter is released, let’s not rule out the idea that in some future we may see an MMO come true.
In the year 2000 (a year before the first film of Potter), EA became the license holder and began producing a series of games for the franchise. As we told you above, one of these was going to be an MMO, a game that could have been a half court goal.
Kim Salezer (Marketing Director at EA Games between 2000 and 2003) had counted in the The Real Brandolarian podcast that EA canceled that MMO from Harry Potter because “they did not believe or simply did not know that this IP could have a life greater than a year or two”.
EA lost the license in 2011 (the same year the last movie came out) and in 2017 Warner Brothers he already had a new publishing label in his hands called Portkey Games. This is responsible for the next Hogwarts Legacygame being developed by AvalancheSoftware. Despite having an estimated date for December 2022, but as we have, it will arrive on February 10, 2023.
AvalancheSoftware He said the reason for that delay is because they need “a little more time to offer the best possible gaming experience“. However, if the date is kept, in February 2023 this video game will reach PlayStation, Xbox and PC. It is also planned to disembark in the nintendo switchbut according to AvalancheSoftware the release date will be revealed”early“.
Hogwarts Legacy It will be an open world ARPG that will allow us to create our own wizard and fifth year Hogwarts student to immerse ourselves and freely explore the surrounding areas of the school, such as the town of Hogsmeade or the Forbidden Forest.
The protagonist will embark on “an untold dangerous adventure to discover a hidden truth of the magical world.” The decisions we make will be influential in the development of the player’s story.
The main enemy will be the goblin Ranrok, who leads a rebellion of goblins accompanied by witches and dark wizards. Although the plot is still not very clear, we assume that our objective will be to free the beings that are manipulated by dark magic.
Though Hogwarts Legacy It’s not an MMO, its success could determine how much potential there is in a future massively multiplayer online video game of Harry Potter. A EA it got out of hand and they lost the golden opportunity, we’ll see who dares to do it and if it really works. After all, over the years, the IP of the franchise of Harry Potter it was only increasing.