In June 2023, Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, an MMO for the popular Harry Potter franchise, was released in the West. Now, those responsible at Warner Bros. Games and Portkey Games unexpectedly announced the premature end in America, Europe and Oceania.
What is the reason for the discontinuation? According to the announcement on magicawakened.com, the MMO’s western servers will shut down forever on October 29, 2024. The game was already removed from the App Store and Google Play Store on August 26, 2024. Since then, it will also no longer be possible to make in-game purchases.
Of course, anyone interested can continue to experience Harry Potter: Magic Awakened until the end of October. And if you happen to be in Asia, you can even continue to play the MMO, as the Asian servers will remain live. In China, the game has even been playable since 2021.
Here is the trailer for Harry Potter: Magic Awakened:
Free Harry Potter MMO gives you what Hogwarts Legacy was missing
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Mobile, yes, but not bad
What kind of game was that? Similar to Blizzard, Warner Bros. Games also teamed up with the Chinese mobile experts at NetEase to develop a mobile game for a well-known franchise for the Chinese market and beyond.
In Harry Potter: Magic Awakened, you create a character and visit the famous Hogwarts School of Magic around ten years after the books. Your adventure begins alongside Hagrid in Diagon Alley, where you get the things you need for the upcoming school year. As a first-grader, the sorting hat ends up on your head, which you use to choose your house.
In class you will meet well-known teachers such as Minerva McGonagall, who is now the headmistress, or Filius Flitwick. You can explore the castle completely freely and come into contact with other players all the time. The combat system is turn-based. You learn new spells using cards. There is an alchemy system and PvP duels, a Quidditch mini-game and more.
Why the closure? The developers do not give a reason for the premature end in the West, apart from “the time is right”. Only last week there were new ability cards and powers, and a design competition is currently underway. The announcement is therefore surprising. It is not the first MMO to have 2024 on its conscience: an important free2play MMORPG is closing after 10 years