1Qing Yuan Ong STS 145 – History of Computer Game Design Case History: Harry Potter Game Series Hi Henry, Rene, and Wayne, This assignment is submitted late on coursework but I had asked Henry about it and he approved the extension last week. Thanks. Regards, Qing >> X-Sender: [email protected] (Unverified) X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.1.1 Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:03:16 -0800 To: Qing Yuan Ong <[email protected]> From: Henry Lowood <[email protected]> Subject: Re: Extension for case study Qing, Yes, submit via Coursework. And, yes, extension is approved. One more idea regarding EA. Try Jordan Maynard: "Maynard, Jordan" <[email protected]>. He did NOT work on Harry Potter, but rather on James Bond and other projects, but he's a nice guy who knows a lot of people. (His father was one of the designers in that early EA poster I showed you.) Just say I referred you to him and ask if he knows anyone who would be willing to talk about Harry Potter. Henry At 10:46 AM 3/10/2004 -0800, you wrote: Hi Henry, I spoke to you before class and you told me to send you an email regarding my request for an extension for the final assignment. I would like an extension of 2 days, and thus I will submit my paper by 11.55pm Thursday, instead of 11.55pm Tuesday. I will try my best to finish it by Tuesday and will only take the extension only if I really cannot do so. Do I still submit the assignment using coursework or do I email it directly to you? Thanks a lot for the help this quarter! I still have not heard from EA despite sending them a number of emails, I guess I will have to just work with what I can get off the internet. Thanks. Regards, Qing Yuan Ong Henry Lowood, Ph.D. Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections Curator for Germanic Collections HASRC, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford CA 94305-6004 EMAIL: [email protected] PH: 650-723-4602 Covers from MobyGames2Qing Yuan Ong STS 145 – History of Computer Game Design Case History: Harry Potter Game Series Harry Potter & The Role of Licensed Properties in Video Game Development Covers from MobyGames3 Ever since the first Harry Potter novel was published in 1998, many children around the world have been attracted to and mesmerized by the magical adventures involving Harry and his friends in their years at Hogwarts. The appeal of the story goes beyond young readers, as Harry Potter has found himself a significant following even among more serious readers. By 2000, the book series had been published in 115 countries and in 28 languages with more than 18.4 million books in circulation in the United States alone [EA00-8]. BBC News’ decision to do a feature article exploring aspects of the Harry Potter phenomenon in the In-Depth section of their website is further testimony to the successes of JK Rowling’s storybooks [BBC03]. As Harry Potter gained popularity and fame, it became obvious that a huge market had been created for other Harry Potter-themed products; fans wanted to relive the experience of the novel through other types of media. Because of the hype generated by the sales, Warner Bros. soon announced their intentions to make the Harry Potter novel into a film [BL98]. Subsequently they bought the film and worldwide merchandising rights for the first four Harry Potter books from JK Rowling in 1999 [AU00]. Similarly, Harry Potter also found his way into the video game industry; Electronic Arts (EA) announced on August 10, 2000 that it had been awarded worldwide interactive rights for Harry Potter books and films in agreement with Warner Bros [EA00-8]. Harry Potter definitely did not introduce the idea of using of licensed properties to video game development; the idea itself dates back at least to the early 80s when Atari bought the rights to make ET into a game [LT03]. Instead, the significance of the Harry Potter game series comes from its accurate reflection of how the industry develops games based on licensed properties.1 The Harry Potter license is currently one of the most 1The term “licensed development” will be used to refer subsequently to developing games based on licensed properties.4valuable licenses in the industry. 2 As such, EA has been very cautious in their management of this ‘goldmine.’ Unlike original game productions which rely on creative and appealing game design to make the game a bestseller, a moderately successful game design coupled with the advantage offered by Harry Potter’s reputation will suffice to propel the game into the bestseller lists. The need for EA to implement more innovative but riskier development methods to increase the demand for the game is simply not as strong as it would be for original games, and EA will most likely utilize tried and tested methods. The Harry Potter game series hence gives a credible portrayal of the way the industry currently manages licensed development.3 In additional to exploring aspects of licensed development, this paper will show how licensed properties offer publishers the stability they need in a market that is increasingly hit-driven and demonstrate their irreplaceable role to the industry’s development. Game ReleasesOn November 13, 2001, EA announced that it had shipped four video games to retail stores based on “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” published for the PlayStation, PC, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. These games were the first to be developed under the license and the games went on sale on November 16, 2001, coinciding with Warner Bros. Pictures’ release of the highly anticipated movie. The KnowWonder and Griptonite Games studios of Amaze Entertainment developed the games for the PC, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. Argonaut Games, based in London, developed the PlayStation game [EA01-11]. 2 JK Rowling’s wealth, largely from her ownership of the Harry Potter license, is estimated by the Sunday Times (London) to be around ₤280 million in 2003, thus proving that in terms of monetary value, the license is very valuable. In addition, the license is unique in that it commands a diverse audience group – children, teenagers, adults - not found in other licenses. 3 This credibility is backed by game critics. In 2002, IGN.com gave the “Best adventure game” award to “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” for EA’s “great use of the license and some top-notch production."
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