Transmedia Analysis: Harry Potter Series, Games vs. Films

This report provides a transmedia analysis of the Harry Potter series, focusing on the comparison between the film series and the video game adaptations, specifically "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery." The analysis explores how transmedia storytelling, as a marketing strategy, enhances audience engagement and expands the narrative across different platforms. The report delves into the similarities and differences between the films and the game, examining how each medium contributes to the unfolding of the story, particularly focusing on the setting, characters, and gameplay features. It discusses the impact of player interaction in the game, the adaptation of film characters, and the overall appeal of each version. The report concludes by highlighting the successful mass appeal of the transmedia approach, and the author's preference for the films over the game, citing the absence of the main characters and the use of microtransactions as factors influencing this preference. The analysis references academic sources to support its claims and provide a comprehensive overview of the subject.

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TRANSMEDIA ANALYSIS OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
Transmedia storytelling is a marketing strategy and technique of telling a story through
various platforms such as books, films, video games and other digital platforms. Various books
and films use transmedia storytelling to attract more and more audience in order to generate
interest in the people so that there can be more and more sales of the product (Von Stackelberg,
Peter, and Jones). The Harry Potter series written by J.K. Rowling is one of the most renowned
book and film series of all time that has used transmedia storytelling to increase fan involvement.
The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the Harry Potter games and the film series
to understand how each version influence the story and make it more appealing to the audience.
Unlike other book and film series, Harry Potter series has certainly cast a spell on the
world of popular and fictional literature that has not only captured the minds of the children but
people of all age ranges. The fictional world, the events and the characters of any novel or film
can be experienced in many ways through films, books, games, websites and so on. Henry
Jenkins has described transmedia storytelling as “a process in which the important parts of the
fictional world are systematically scattered across various delivery channels that creates a unified
experience” (Ryan). Each medium contributes uniquely to the unfolding of the story. Influenced
by the popularity of the book series, the video games on Harry Potter were created to engage
more and more people with the book and film franchise. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
developed as well as published by Jam City is a role-playing single player video game that

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TRANSMEDIA ANALYSIS OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
focuses on the events set before the events of the Harry Potter novels (Prima Games). The game
is set between the years of Harry Potter’s birth and his enrolment in Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry. The game allows the players to create their own avatars, attend classes,
learn spells and embark on quests. The players can also interact with some notable characters
from the series like Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Rubeus Hagrid and Severus
Snape. The special features of the game is that the players are able to establish friendships with
the non-player characters in the game by eating in the Great Hall and drinking Butterbeer in the
pub called the Three Broomsticks.
The similarity that can be found in the two mediums is that both the game and the film
focus on the life in Hogwarts. The game allows the players to be enrolled at Hogwarts. The
players can attend classes just like the students did in the movie and gain knowledge about the
different subjects like Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts and many more
(Brummitt). There is a process where the payers are sorted in the house by the sorting hat and
can duel with friends too. This is in likeliness with the movies where they show the students
getting sorted to the houses according to the qualities that they possess. Another similarity
between the two is the system of house points. Just as in the movies, the house with the highest
score would win the house cup in the game too. These points can be gained by progressing
through the story. Quidditch is also a demanded feature of the game. The difference between the
two mediums was the setting of the plot. The game is set in the years before the generation of
Harry Potter is ready to attend Hogwarts (Moreno). This is where the characters like Bill
Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks attended the school. The whole game is a role-play, where the
player meets a character called Rowan Khanna in Diagon Alley and he teaches the player
everything about the wizarding world.

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TRANSMEDIA ANALYSIS OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
The game is the first installment from the Portkey Games that is a gaming application
under the Warner Bros. Company. The actors from the movies voice the characters in the game
such as Maggie Smith voices her own character of Minerva McGonagall, Michael Gambon for
Albus Dumbledore, Warwick Davis for Professor Flitwick and many more (Laato, Sonja and
Mauri). The way the game carries forward the plot of the movies is evident by the setting of the
game in the years prior to the events of the novel and the film. The headmaster Albus
Dumbledore makes an announcement that Harry Potter is safe and then the events unfold. The
player has to accomplish different task levels in order to progress through the game with the help
of other characters like Rowan Khanna, Merula and Penny. There is a resemblance in the way
these characters go about their task to the way the trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione went about
their lives in Hogwarts. Just like the trio were always seen to involve themselves in those tasks
they were forbidden to do, the player and the characters are also seen to be doing the same.
The interactivity of the game and the movie makes it more appealing as the player gets
the opportunity to get to know about their much-loved world of Harry Potter. The players can be
a part of the wizarding world that they always wanted to be a part of by exploring the Great Hall,
taking classes from their favourite professors, and enjoying at the Three Broomsticks pub. It
gives a feeling of being in the wizarding world in reality. The fact that the game is not actually a
version of the books and the films but inspired by the plot makes it more appealing. The
adaptation of the films into the game attracts a huge audience and keeps the interest intact even
after so many years of the release of the books and films (Scolari, Carlos and Indrek).
When assessing the version that I liked the most, I would say that I preferred the films
more than the video game. The video game though makes it a reality to be a part of the wizarding

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TRANSMEDIA ANALYSIS OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
world does not have the appeal that the films had. The absence of the main trio of characters and
a heavy usage of microtransaction techniques reduced my interest in the game.
In conclusion, it can be said that the transmedia storytelling of Harry Potter series
through the games and the films are successful in creating a huge mass appeal. It has not only
created a buzz among the children but has created an impact on the adults through its magic in
the most literal sense.

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TRANSMEDIA ANALYSIS OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
Works Cited
Brummitt, Cassie. "Pottermore: Transmedia storytelling and authorship in Harry Potter." The
Midwest Quarterly 58.1 (2016): 112.
Laato, Samuli, Sonja M. Hyrynsalmi, and Mauri Paloheimo. "Online Multiplayer Games for
Crowdsourcing the Development of Digital Assets." International Conference on
Software Business. Springer, Cham, 2019.
Moreno Álvarez, Marta. "Harry Potter and the Words’ Mystery." (2016).
Prima Games. "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery Plot". Prima Games, 2020,
https://primagames.com/tips/harry-potter-hogwarts-mystery-plot.
Ryan, Marie-Laure. "Transmedia narratology and transmedia storytelling." Artnodes 18 (2016).
Scolari, Carlos Alberto, and Indrek Ibrus. "Transmedia critical: Empirical investigations into
multiplatform and collaborative storytelling." International Journal of Communication.
2014; 8: 2191–200. (2014).
Von Stackelberg, Peter, and Ruth Eira Jones. "Tales of our tomorrows: Transmedia storytelling
and communicating about the future." Journal of Futures Studies 18.3 (2014): 57-76.