After five years of independent operation, Club Penguin Rewritten has been shut down following a request from Disney. The fan remake of the once popular children’s MMO is now under investigation by the City of London Police.
The original Club Penguin was a massively multiplayer online game developed by Disney Canada in 2005. For many fans of MMOs like World of Warcraft, Club Penguin was their introduction to online gaming, bringing young players to a happy-go-lucky and wholesome role-playing world. The game enjoyed continued success for over a decade before Disney ceased operations in March 2017, eventually replacing the MMO with a mobile version titled Club Penguin Island. After only a year of operation, Club Penguin Island would also be discontinued by Disney in September 2018.
Club Penguin Rewritten was a fan remake of the original Club Penguin game and launched in 2017. Since its release, the game has continued to receive new content and development until today’s announcement. Announced via Club Penguin Rewritten’s official Discord server, now titled “Rewritten,” server administrator, Thorn, stated that CPRwritten would be shutting down effective immediately. The shutdown comes due to a full request by Disney, with the game’s official website has been handed over to the authorities in the wake of this announcement. Attempts to access the website are met with a notice by the City of London Police. The domain is currently under investigation by the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit.
Fans around the internet are expressing disappointment and sadness around the closure of Club Penguin Rewritten. With over 10 million accounts created, today’s announcement will surely be a sore spot for many fans. Club Penguin Rewritten in many ways expanded and continued the development of Club Penguin in Disney’s absence. The fan remake was even host to a virtual concert for singer/songwriter Soccer Mommy in promotion of her album, Color Theory in 2020. However, Club Penguin clones are no stranger to Disney takedowns. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Disney came knocking.
Official Club Penguin servers have been offline for over five years, and the franchise has been effectively dead since Club Penguin Island closed its doors in 2018. With so many clones frequently popping up and garnering the support of many fans, it does beg the question of whether or not Club Penguin will ever return. The market for MMOs has never been better, games like Final Fantasy 14 are reaching new peaks in player counts, and the gaming landscape still sees Club Penguin in a warm and nostalgic light. If Club Penguin ever made an official return, perhaps it could find some success, but that is up to Disney to decide.