Rare Development Footage From a 2007 Harry Potter Game Revealed

Over the past few months, the Twitter page of Martin Griffiths, a seasoned Game Developer and Engine Programmer, has truly become a treasure trove of information for those interested in the behind-the-scenes of video game development. First, the developer showed how No Man's Sky's engine can handle planet-landing sequences, then, he shared an entire thread worth of insights regarding the porting of the 2012 indie adventure, Journey, and now, Martin has treated us to some rare development footage from Electronic Arts' 2007 action-adventure game, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

According to the developer's latest showcase, he spent eight years working on the game's engine, describing the period as "a formative time" because Order of the Phoenix was "the first fully streamed, open-world game" created by EA. The demo Martin shared includes some of the title's early gameplay running on the PlayStation 3 console, with the developer noting that the footage shows "the first time Harry ran around Hogwarts."

The structure seen in the middle of the courtyard is a detailed recreation of the real-life prop made by Warner Bros. for the Harry Potter movies and can be seen during the HP Studio Tour, Martin revealed:

The icing on the cake was an exclusive lost video shared by Martin, depicting the Order of the Phoenix team working on the game, captured in "late 2006/early 2007 at the Guildford EAUK Studio" and upscaled from 240p to a more eye-pleasing resolution:

We highly encourage you to visit Martin Griffiths' Twitter page for more game development insights. Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.