The impending closure of Club Penguin got you down? Same for the thousands of others that have gone in and out of Disney’s child-friendly community game over the past 11 years. It may be on the way out, but it’s being succeeded by a new iteration: Club Penguin Island.
Both the browser and mobile versions of Club Penguin will be shutting down for good come March 29. Outcry over the game’s closure has been immense across social media as the game was many young people’s first foray into online gaming during Club Penguin’s heyday.
It doesn’t seem like the world is going to be totally Club Penguin-free long, though as pre-registrations for successor Club Penguin Island are currently up on Android and for both iTunes and Android on the official website.
The iTunes release already has some preview reviews and they are not looking too hot, with the reviews stating the game has heavy limitations on free players not present in the original game as well as a lack of activities and areas. I guess you can’t expect snowball fights on an island.
Don’t take the iTunes preview reviews to be the final word on Club Penguin Island, though. With the game coming out in March and only a very small number of people being able to play, who knows what’s to be found in this new and graphically updated Club Penguin adventure. But when the very first preview image pretty much only shows emotes and with a disclaimer stating “Features shown require paid membership and qualifying gameplay,” you know you’re in for a wallet-wrenching time.
See that text at the bottom? That’s what it says. Hoo boy.
It may be safe to say even now that Island is going to be more greedy than its predecessor, but who knows — in any case this is good news for the current game’s community so they aren’t left in the wind by Disney, like those who grew up with ToonTown and saw its closure.
Whether or not Club Penguin Island is going to be able to live up to the cult-like status of the original is yet to be seen, but if you are or have been a fan you absolutely should pre-register and have your voice heard during the game’s infancy to help structure it in a way that’s fun for all players.
