Twenty-six years ago, a role-playing game based on the Harry Potter books was pitched and even received a demo. However, it never developed into a full game and only recently became known to the public through a museum tour.The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, had kept some footage of this project. Andrew Borman, the museum's director of digital preservation, told GamesRadar+ that Volition, the developer behind the iconic Saints Row franchise, wanted to recreate the world from the books in a video game. Remember, it was 1999, two years before Electronic Arts' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone came out, so there was no visual reference at that time. The footage, though can't be shared, presented a game which is "pretty much just PS1-era Harry and Hagrid wandering around a small, unpopulated, unfinished town." The outlet described its environment and characters would resemble what a "Baldur's Gate-style top-down RPG" could provide.Although no videos here, we're lucky to see some of the screenshots. There is a loading page and a scene showing tiny Harry and Hagrid standing together:The demo, which allowed you to switch characters freely but offered few other actions, was developed over roughly a couple of weeks, according to Borman. He also revealed a detail when the game was pitched: "The story is that, when Volition and THQ pitched this game, at least some of the THQ executives came dressed in robes and had owls with them."Unfortunately, the idea and demo did not evolve into a game, and the project seemed to stop there without any known reason. Volition, after 30 years of business, was shut down in 2023 with Embracer Group's restructuring. Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more. #baldur039s #gatestyle #harry #potter #rpg