Popular online game from the early 2000s, Neopets, is considering a big move from web browsers to consoles with Nintendo Switch.
The game has been struggling to keep up with user demands and keep the site function since the loss of flash, so alternatives are definitely something the company has been considering.
If you are anything like me, the title flooded you with nostalgia and surprise — Neopets are still going? They are! The company ball parked the number of daily users around 100 thousand and 1.5 million monthly players. Each season is filled with special events, most recently dip & dye neggs for anyone that remembers the specifics of the game.
After the game was forced to transition away from Flash last year the company had to decide where to focus their small dev team, “We’re not like a hundred person dev team where we could just focus on everything at once,” said Neopets brand manager Stephanie Lord. “So we definitely have to prioritize.” With Flash becoming obsolete at the end of 2020, the game needed to rush to come up with alternate solutions. Unfortunately December is a very popular time of year for the Neopets community. Each year they celebrate the holidays with an advent calendar of sorts, where players need to log in daily to receive new gifts, bringing loads of extra traffic to the site.
Players flooded the internet with complaints during the transition. The company tried to keep up with demands but ultimately had to choose which parts of the site to ensure were functional. They went with the most popular features like customization of pets, daily activities and the Neopian Pound. Parts of the game are still not functional and as the team continues to work on the site, they have considered alternatives to growing the franchise. According to The Washington Post, Neopets is considering a move to Nintendo Switch to expand its audience and upgrade the player experience.
The developers are continuing to fix and improve on the Neopets site. There is currently no official information on the possible move to consoles, but I know quite a few millennials who would love the chance to reconnect with their Neopets.
