Ancient kids’ social network website Club Penguin will be shutting down on Mar. 29, marking 11 years of baffling memes and kids’ first introductions to the wild and wacky world of the Internet. The game will be shutting down on both desktop and mobile.
In its place, filling that waddling, adorable void? Club Penguin Island, a new mobile game that has been in development since the last year.
Details about the closure follow below via a post on the Club Penguin website:
Memberships for desktop Club Penguin and the Club Penguin app will no longer be available for purchase as of Jan. 31, 2017. From Jan. 31 until Mar. 29, 2017, current paid members can log in and continue to enjoy full-unlimited access until their original membership end date.
As of Jan. 31, 2017, paid member accounts will no longer be charged a recurring payment for desktop Club Penguin and the Club Penguin app.
Emails will be sent to current paid members with further information about membership including refund details.
If you do not currently have a Club Penguin membership, you can continue to log in and enjoy the game as you were previously, until March 29, 2017.
Pre-registrations for Club Penguin Island will be open until Feb. 16 here. Pre-registrees will receive exclusive in-game rewards and be able to select a new penguin name. Nothing carries over, so kids (and adults, and penguin furries) will have to build up their presence from scratch.
Back in 2007, Disney paid $350 million for Club Penguin, a deal with a ceiling of $700 million depending on Club Penguin’s performance. The social network, which had been up and running since 2005, has operated as a stand-alone division within Disney Interactive and Consumer Products ever since.
"We are deeply grateful for your time and enthusiasm since the beginning, and we'd like to thank each and every one of you in the Club Penguin community — we can't wait for you to see what's coming next," states the blog post.
Do you have any fond memories of your time with Club Penguin? Are you already getting your waddle on at Club Penguin Island ’s celebratory launch party? Feel free to talk about Club Penguin (I can’t believe it’s still around? I didn’t know it had paid memberships? Who has a paid Club Penguin membership? Who does that?) in our comments section below.
