Club Penguin creator is 'confident' the online game will return one day

The person who brought us the legendary online video game Club Penguin believes it could return one day.

It was officially shut down back in 2017 and the world was collectively devastated.

The game had been running for more than a decade and had amassed loads of fans who loved logging into the virtual world.

In 2013, a report found there were more than 30 million online accounts.

Essentially, what you could do was play as a penguin in this multiplayer online world.

You were given an igloo at the beginning and you could choose to open it up to the virtual map. You could explore new worlds, interact with people from across the globe and have a great time.

The game's developer, New Horizon Interactive, was bought by Disney in 2005 for a whopping $350 million.

By 2015, the number of gamers had started to decline and, two years later, the Mickey Mouse corporation decided it was best to shut those virtual gates forever.

Gamers received a message that said: "The connection has been lost. Thank you for playing Club Penguin. Waddle on!"

The big problem was that users didn't have to pay to play the game and the developer relied heavily on the 10 per cent of gamers who signed up for membership, according to The Washington Post.

Getting a membership would allow a user to get virtual clothes for their penguin and buy decorations for their igloos.

It sounds lame, but people were obsessed with the concept.

When Club Penguin was closed, Club Penguin Island was launched, however that only lasted a year before it too was shut down.

There have been loads of fan-made versions of the game that have hit the web since those days, however many have been taken down or hit with copyright claims from Disney.

But, the game's original creator, Lance Priebe, believes it could make a comeback.

No regrets. Disney helped Club Penguin expand world wide and introduced millions of children to our exciting little world. I'm sad that it ended but I am confident it will one day return.

— RocketSnail (@rocketsnail) March 14, 2023

He was asked whether he regretted selling the video game empire to Disney all those years ago.

Lance said: "No regrets. Disney helped Club Penguin expand world wide and introduced millions of children to our exciting little world.

"I'm sad that it ended but I am confident it will one day return."

That is a big admission, even if it's not backed up with any sort of information that hints work is underway to bring it back.

He also said there would be one big goal if it did launch again.

"Something unique about Club Penguin was that we had the big goal of launching localized content on the same day world-wide," he wrote on Twitter.

"As a team we believed fans from around the world should not have to wait for parties or events in their own language."

We can only hope and dream.