Pottermore recently released a new article through Pottermore Insider, the website’s official blog, discussing their successful beta phase, when they will be taking the website public, and addressing fan questions over when the Harry Potter e-books will be hitting the market. Sad news for fans not already in Pottermore: it’s going to be a wait, and possibly a long one!
All one million fans who were lucky enough to score an invitation to join the beta have been emailed and are now able to participate in Pottermore. The website was initially intended to launch its public access in early October, but this blog post announced that the Pottermore beta phase will be extended through the end of October. Additional bad news arrived in the post as Pottermore administrators announced how the new public registration system will work:
From the end of October, registration will be opened to everyone and we’ll be giving access to registered users in phases. Access may be granted quickly, but please note it could also take some weeks or months, depending on demand.
Having to wait, especially weeks or months, to receive an invitation to join the website isn’t the greatest news, but at least fans who missed the original rush to join beta will have a chance to experience the magic. We’re sure that this change has something to do with Pottermore’s server issues as of late — you know, when you visit the website and are told it’s too busy for you to access. It’s been a pesky problem throughout the beta process, and it looks like this decision was made so that the Pottermore team is able to keep up with the server load added by an influx of new users.
Pottermore Insider also touched on the availability of the Harry Potter e-books, one of the large draws of the new Pottermore initiative. As previously announced, Pottermore will exclusively sell the Harry Potter e-books through the website as part of a partnership with Sony. However, the team has just announced that the release of these e-books has been pushed to the “first half of 2012″:
Finally, the Pottermore Shop, which will sell the Harry Potter eBooks and digital audio books, will now open in the first half of 2012, in order to allow us to focus on our first priority: opening Pottermore to as many people as possible and making the experience as good as it can be.
While the Pottermore experience has been a unique one, we cannot help but feel disappointed by these announcements. Phased public invites and a potential eight month delay on the release of Harry Potter e-books is a lot to stomach. Are you unhappy with the news?
