It looks like Game Over for some super fans of Club Penguin. A fan-made copy of the “Club Penguin” game is being shut down. Both Disney and London police authorities are putting the gaming operation to rest.
Club Penguin
First launched in 2005 and acquired by Disney in 2007, Club Penguin was an online MMO aimed at young children set in a cartoon world of penguins. The game is popular among a generation of players. Even though the game servers stopped supporting Club Penguin in 2017, it didn’t stop some people from trying to make unauthorized remakes.
It had more than 200 million players at its peak. Many young adults remember the game’s popularity!
Now the official website for the most popular clone, Club Penguin Rewritten, has been seized by the City Police of London. Additionally, three people affiliated with the project have been arrested.
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Game Over
Club Penguin Rewritten had 10 million users over the course of its run. Quite an impressive feat! The official webpage for the game now features a new message on the homepage to inform visitors of current events:
“This site has been taken over by Operation Creative, Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU).”
DC Daryl Fryatt of the City of London Police’s IP crime unit (PIPCU) says the complaint concerns copyright law.
As fans of discontinued games often do, various people run their own versions of the game on private servers. The site included in-game advertising, too.
One player, who spent time on both sites, told the BBC: “The game had been booming ever since Club Penguin Online’s [CPO] shutdown, as that is where the CPO player population migrated to. However, that may have worked against them in the end.”
It might seem silly, but the game is ultimately a legal violation. The main issue is the violation of intellectual property and copyright law. Copyright issues is what stops fan-made recreations. Plus, earning money via advertising is enough reason to get legal attention if it’s another company’s licensing.
This is just the latest Club Penguin site to be an issue. The last problem took place in 2020. Even the Discord for this newer Club Penguin game lets players now the site is no more. Disney has not made a statement yet.
What do you think of the recent legal drama? How many of our fans miss the original Club Penguin? Would you want Disney to bring back a new updated version?
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