Nintendo once attempted to buy the exclusive production rights to the Harry Potter franchise. J.K. Rowling turned it down in favor of several other proposals by media giants with greater resources, such as Disney and Universal. Whereas Nintendo was only able to offer video game adaptations of the books, these larger companies had the ability to adapt the franchise for television and film, as well as gaming.

In the end, Rowling sold the rights to Warner Bros., who would later contract Electronic Arts to create the video game adaptations of the Harry Potter film series.