It might be time to log in to your Neopets account again.
Neopets, a virtual pet website first launched in 1999, is certainly not the phenomenon it was in the early days of the Internet. I have fond memories of the site – as a child I remember spending hours grooming my canine Lupe character – but I didn’t pay any serious attention to it Neopets for two decades because much of the site was stuck in the past. A lot of Neopetsdesign is straight out of 2005, many of the old games built on Adobe Flash no longer work, and some of the more recent attempts to revive interest, including an NFT project, feel lost in their own way.
The many devoted fans who still visit the site received some promising news this week. The team behind it Neopets has grown into an independent company, promises a “new era” for the game and plans to make some changes soon: a new homepage launched on Thursday and many refurbished games will be released on July 25. “We are certainly ready to go full steam ahead, and hopefully we can return Neopets to its glory days,” said Dominic Law, CEO of the new World of Neopia, Inc., in an interview with The edge.
Despite Neopets Since the site is almost 24 years old and well past its heyday, the site is still seeing quite a bit of traffic: the law tells me that Neopets has “nearly a million” monthly active users, and that number “has been really consistent” over the past few years. “Our community is so strong,” he says. Although the site has languished, there is “a really loyal fan base that has stuck around.”
With the new homepage, the company wants to bring Neopets “back in one Neopets, one kind of team experience for our users,” says Law. He told how there have been several recently Neopets initiatives or projects that are going on at the same time, but the teams have been working in silos. “Ultimately, we have the same IP address, the same brand, and we want to make sure our users experience the best of all games under one umbrella.”
Over the next year, much of the team’s effort will be devoted to fixing the classic Neopets site to address basic issues like broken links. “There’s a lot of technical debt,” says Law. That includes getting many of the older games built on Adobe Flash to work Ruffle emulator; Neopets says more than 50 games will be playable from July 25. The team also plans to relaunch it Island Builders city simulator mobile game in Q1 of next year, work in progress World of Neopetsa new 3D open world game, and will release updates to its match-three mobile puzzle game, Neopets: Faerie’s Hope.
The new home page is now live, and in my opinion it is much better. There are clear tabs for classic Neopets, Faerie’s Hope, Island BuildersAnd World of Neopets. There are helpful “About” sectionsincluding a refreshed details page the real Neopet creatures. There’s even a timeline of it Neopets‘ history. (I forgot there was one Neopets ps2 game, The darkest elf.) However, if you delve into the classic Neopets browser game, you don’t see a new coat of paint; that part of the site still uses the old layout.
The new direction does Neopets continues from the Neopet’s Metaverse game, and Law tells me that Web3 and blockchain technologies “are not a focus for Neopets right now.” I also asked if Neopets looks at AI, another trendy buzzword topic, and while Law says that “as an IP, we’re always looking to explore new technology,” the team has no “plans in that area.”
Right now, Neopets need to find a way to be self-sufficient
The long-term goal for the new team behind it Neopets is to “expand and revitalize the IP and keep it alive for another 25 years,” says Law. His personal vision is making Neopets in a franchise that would be recognized by its own children. But in the short term, the Neopets team must find a way to “be self-sufficient as a self-contained entity.” Straight away, Neopets brings in cash in a variety of ways, including selling Neocash virtual currency, generating money from advertisements on its website, and earning licensing revenue from its merchandise. (Law sees a medium-term goal in resurgence Neopetslicensing strategy.)
I asked Law why players like me who may have dropped out should come back Neopets. “Honestly, nostalgia is definitely one thing,” he says. He suggests coming back to say hello to your pets or play the games you may have spent time with as a kid. He recognizes that lapsed users probably won’t play the old games the way they did as a kid, so he hopes the new ones Neopets games will be of interest to players who come back.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.