All the way back on April 9th, Pottermore announced that it would be severing ties with Sony, which had been integral in starting the brand in the first place. Now that partnership has been dissolved, which leads to three questions:
- What is the future of Pottermore.com?
- What is the future of Pottermore at PlayStation Home?
- What is the future of the Wonderbook series?
I will address the first question more fully in another post. In short, the website will continue release updates much like it has done already, though, perhaps, in not quite as timely a manner as we saw previous to their separation, which even then some fans might argue wasn’t timely enough. Anyway, more on that later.
However, the second question concerns me more than the other two. Pottermore at PlayStation Home, while not perfect, was the closest that we fans have ever come to an MMORPG Harry Potter game. I do, however, still hold out hope that a Harry Potter MMO will happen one day, but the longer we wait, the more unlikely that becomes.
Pottermore-News.com published the statement released by Pottermore on April 9th, as well as questions and answers posed to Pottermore by SnitchSeeker.com. Here is the relevant answer to questions two and three above:
We will continue to sell our existing inventory of Wonderbook: Book of Spells and Wonderbook: Book of Potions, but will not produce any additional inventory. Anyone who owns Wonderbook will continue to receive customer service from Sony Computer Entertainment. Additionally, Pottermore at PlayStation Home will remain active for the foreseeable future and we will continue to provide customer support to its users.
In other words, in answer to my third question (above), there will be continued “support” for the Harry Potter Wonderbook series (which includes 2012’s Book of Spells and 2013’s Book of Potions), but no new games in that series.
As for my second question, the content already released on PlayStation Home will not be removed, but there will be no new updates or releases. In fact, there hasn’t been an update to PlayStation Home since August 15, 2013 (Release 3) and October 31, 2013 (which was not a major “numbered release”, but instead, the Great Hall was decorated with pumpkins for Halloween and the “Dark Wizard’s Mansion” space became available for purchase).
My hopes for a full-Hogwarts exploration produced by the folks at Pottermore (whose book-inspired rooms already released on PlayStation Home I vastly prefer to the movie tie-in video games produced by EA) are totally dashed. Well, it was fun while it lasted. As I said, what is already there will remain there, but there will be no Release 4. So, here’s a wrap-up of all there is and all there will be for Pottermore at PlayStation Home:
Main Rooms/Places (free to explore on a PS3)
- Diagon Alley
- Hogwarts Express
- Great Hall
- Common Rooms
- Charms Class
- Hogwarts Library
- Forbidden Forest
- Chessboard Chamber
Personal Spaces (available for purchase)
Are you disappointed by this (old) news? Share your thoughts in the comments.
