 | Digital Release | PC November 30, 2017 |
| Delisting | December 20, 2018 | |
| Developer | Disney Canada | |
| Publisher | Disney Mobile | |
| Available On | None (See Below) | |
| Links | Club Penguin Island homepage [Archive] |
Delisting
About a year and a half after the Disney Canada team shut down the original, long-running Club Penguin, the same fate has fallen on their much younger, mobile follow-up, Club Penguin Island. A farewell announcement was made on September 27th, 2018 revealing that the game would close at the end of the year. The team’s farewell post follows below:
To our Club Penguin Fans and Family:
There’s no easy way to say this but after 13 incredible years, Club Penguin will be sunsetting at the end of this year. We’ll be providing players with all the necessary information in the coming weeks via in-game messages and updates here on Island News.
Thanks to you, Club Penguin has been more than a game; it’s been a global community where you have gathered to socialize and express yourselves. In a time when games come and go within months, it was one of the longest-running kids’ games of all time and at its height, had over 200 million accounts. Players from countries around the world showed their commitment to the game by adopting 25 million Puffles and creating over 200,000 videos.
When we replaced the original Club Penguin game a year and a half ago, we always strived to make Club Penguin Island the best mobile successor to the original game. From day one of development, Club Penguin Island has been a true passion project for everyone here at Disney but, the time has come for the party to end.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued dedication to the Club Penguin and Club Penguin Island games and for being a member of our family. We are so grateful to have shared in this journey with you. We’re excited to bring you more new experiences around all of Disney’s beloved characters and stories across all platforms.
Please look out for more information soon and as always, waddle on.
– Club Penguin Team
– Thank You, Penguin Family
Unfortunately, this wasn’t a decision that was left up to the team. According to Kotaku, they were informed just days before of the decision to shut down the game and lay off the team.
One former employee, who is anonymous for fear of retribution, told Kotaku that he felt “blindsided” by the news. Although employees working on the game knew Club Penguin Island wasn’t doing well, he said, the studio had been pitching other projects. “We were told three weeks ago that we’d been green-lit and would have jobs for at least 2 years while we built and launched a new product! The whole studio was basically popping champagne, only to have that pulled out from under us by someone way up the chain at Disney.”
– Kotaku
On October 12th, the Club Penguin Island team detailed a roadmap for the last two months of the game, as well as confirming the server shutdown date as December 20th, 2018. Within the roadmap, the developers confirmed free memberships and refunds for purchased items and unused time on memberships.
Hi penguin pals,
We can’t thank you enough for the love and support you’ve shown us. You’ve been the most amazing, caring community, and, although we’re sad, we want to celebrate the moments we’ve shared.
For the next 2 months, up to Club Penguin Island’s closure on December 20th, we will be here with you. Although there will be fewer Island News entries, we’ll still post to keep you updated on what’s happening.
The Halloween Party is still being released this October, and while it may not be the huge dragon-fighting adventure you had with the Medieval Party, we’re looking forward to sharing it with you. We’ll resume Mod Meet-ups during this time so we can trick or treat at your igloos!
We’ll follow up the Halloween Party with a special Waddle On Party on November 5th. You won’t want to miss out because we’ll be wrapping up the story of Club Penguin Island and leaving you with some awesome surprises! Also, from that moment on, EVERYONE will be given free membership and a HUGE amount of coins. Later in the month, players will receive a refund for any time remaining on their membership after November 5th.
We’re sad, but also excited to join up with all of you for a final, wonderful farewell. We have 2 months to do this, penguin pals, so let’s have some fun!
2 Months of Celebration
In a final update in December of 2018, the Club Penguin Island team revealed an offline mode that would activate upon the date of the server shutdown. After December 21st, all of the game’s features would be available in offline mode except for multiplayer.
Ultimately, due to poor player feedback, high competition from other online games, and likely underwhelming membership sales, Disney made the decision to shut down Club Penguin Island.
About the Game
There’s an amazing community of penguins ready to meet you. Join the club and discover the secrets, myths, legends, treasures, and endless possibilities! Waddle with friends, quest for special rewards, level up and throw the ultimate igloo parties. There are things for EVERYONE to do every day!
What can EVERY PENGUIN do?
(Okay, take a deep breath here)… Run, jump, swim, and dive into five world zones of beaches, mountains, underwater caves, and more! Make friends and invite them to your custom made igloo, strut your stuff in team dance battles, journey on adventures with Aunt Arctic, Rookie and Rockhopper, earn emojis, discover all kinds of collectibles, level up, find hidden treasure chests, complete challenges each day, kick beach balls, bounce on trampolines, team up for snowball games, launch yourself into the air on water geysers, fire yourself from cannons… and more! Plus there’s always new stuff to look forward to!