The “new era” promised by Neopets after the crypto-related decline is more complicated than it seems

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After a shaky few years, Neopets announced it was under new management alongside plans to revitalize its brand on July 17, with an in-depth statement that got fans excited about the future of the 23-year-old game for the first time in years.

The announcement made via a Medium post promises widespread changes for the popular web-based digital pet game. Some changes are at the management level, with a new CEO at the helm of World of Neopia Inc., which has just become an independent studio after buying itself out from its former owner. Others are responses to fan criticism of Neopets’ involvement in NFTs and Web3, ongoing bug issues, and the game’s struggling economy. And others are entirely new releases, such as the upcoming mobile release, World of Neopets, a mobile game that’s billed as the future of Neopets.

But as exciting as this all sounds for Neopians, fans are worried that this won’t be the revival they’ve been hoping for.

Neopets in decline

The popular browser game Neopets, which has been around since 1999, enjoyed a brief renaissance during the COVID-19 pandemic. But he quickly lost face among new and old players alike after announcing Neopets Meta, a new Neopets game built on the blockchain, in 2021. In Neopets Meta, players could earn unique in-game “Neocollectibles” like Neopets themselves or “Pizzaroo’s Unique Pizzas” and sell or trade them on marketplaces such as Magiceden and Solanart, which are used to sell NFTs and other similar digital collectibles. To make matters worse, the Neopets brand and gameplay are very clearly marketed to children, making NFTs and cryptocurrency particularly predatory and concerning.

Like other blockchain-related kingpins and initiatives, Neopets Meta got a lot of reactions from fans when it was announced. But until earlier this month, Neopets Meta showed no signs of stopping in response to these comments. Earlier this year, Neopets even secured $4 million in funding from prominent players in the Web3 space to continue its initiatives.

Meanwhile, other aspects of the Neopets base game suffered widespread disrepair. Neoboards, the online messaging forum linked to the main Neopets website, has had serious content moderation issues. The in-game economy has widespread issues boosted by cheating and bot accounts, with items like bread costing users months in savings.

The neopets economy mirrors that of the current US with a monthly stimulus of 2,000 neopoints and 33,000 NP breads pic.twitter.com/WUIReB6QEs

ari (@marrymearchie) December 22, 2020

And, as there have been a number of changes in game structure and browser games in general over the past few years, many pages and games simply don’t work. According to the statement made in a Medium article, the company has been operating at a loss for more than 10 years. With all of that in mind, it’s no wonder Neopets felt the time was right for a drastic change.

Neopets splash artA new era for Neopets

Enter Dominic Law, the company’s former metaverse director. Following the collapse of parent company Jumpstart, Law negotiated a management buyout in late June, officially placing Neopets under the management of an independent developer. With their freedom regained, the Neopets team released their first public statement as an independent studio. Billed as “A new era for Neopets”, the announcement promised sweeping changes to the game that addressed the concerns of many gamers.

First, the controversial Neopets Meta is being shut down. Based on the statement, the Neopets team made the decision after reviewing feedback and player engagement. It’s also worth noting that this follows the trend of other prominent players in the gaming space dropping their commitments to blockchain-related companies.

Since the announcement, anyone who visits the Neopets Meta website is greeted with a statement announcing the end of the blockchain-based game. However, the Neopets team also promises to “continue to support the Web3 community that has embraced ownership of these collections”, and goes on to say that existing collections of “digital collectibles” will still be available on the open market, meaning those interested will still be able to buy, sell, and trade Neopets collectibles.

In hopes of avoiding future conflicts between players and developers, the Neopets team also announced that they would focus more on community engagement and involvement by onboarding brand ambassadors such as John Legend and hosting regular AMAs.

However, perhaps the biggest announcement in the statement was that World of Neopia Inc. would be moving to a mobile app called World of Neopets. Rebuilt from the ground up, World of Neopets will be a social life simulation game that incorporates elements from Neopets past, with a slew of new content planned for the future, including a new storyline. Fans of the original browser game can rest easy, as Neopets.com will still be available to play and access.

The Medium post does not address timelines or roadmaps for any new Neopets content, updates, or the newly announced mobile game. Instead, it made an additional promise: a content roadmap to be revealed later that same week, as well as a new centralized landing page for all things Neopets.

The missing card

As promised, the new landing page has gone live. But despite its polished look, the site doesn’t appear to be as comprehensive a hub for all things Neopets as originally promised. The site’s “News and Updates” page, for example, has links to a small handful of guides and tips for Neopets players and a Neopets podcast along with a handful of other blog-style articles. Most notably, the content roadmap, which was supposed to launch with the site on July 20, cannot be found in this section or anywhere else on the new website four days after it was promised. The old Neopets website still has a published roadmap, but it’s dated November 2022. And a sentence in the “A New Era for Neopets” post on the new website reads, “To learn more about all of our plans, check out our recently updated roadmap,” but links to nothing.

In another example of the incomplete nature of the new website, a link in the News and Updates section titled “It’s Your Choice” appears to be a disclaimer regarding the collection of user data. But it doesn’t provide any information on how users can make the “choice” that the header claims to exist to opt out of these data collection practices, and the text lacks context or introduction. The page carries a vaguely menacing (if comical) tone thanks to its headline and thumbnail combination on a sparse page.

A News article on the Neopets website reads, “It’s your choice.”

Links to the original Neopets web pages, as well as the brand’s three mobile games: Faerie’s Hope, Island Builders and World of Neopets are all present and prominently displayed on the new website. But World of Neopets, which was seen as a central part of the brand refresh, lacks a comprehensive website, instead welcoming players with a statement on the game’s development. The statement ends by encouraging players to check out the brand’s new landing page for news and updates.

The future of Neopia

At first glance, the closure of Neopets Meta may seem promising for all fans who are eagerly awaiting new Neopets content that does not involve controversial Metaverse-leaning initiatives like cryptocurrency, NFTs, or Web3. In the medium post, new Neopets CEO Dominic Law is introduced as a longtime Neopets fan who is thrilled to reconnect with a childhood favorite.

While that may still be the case, the Medium post doesn’t address Law’s history with the brand. From 2021 until June 30, 2023, when the Neopets team (led by Law) redeemed itself, he served as the company’s Metaverse Director. In addition to his previous position with the company, Law’s also made comments expressing his interest and enthusiasm for Web3 on LinkedIn. This understandably has some fans worried about the future of the game.

Image source: Reddit

Digging deeper into the big Neopets refresh, other links to Web3 and metaverse initiatives appear. Remember that $4 million funding Neopets received earlier this year from “industry leaders in the gaming and blockchain sectors”? The Medium post cites the same $4 million as the reason the Neopets team was able to redeem themselves after parent company Jumpstart closed on June 30.

Investors Polygon Ventures, Blizzard Avalanche Ecosystem Fund, Hashkey Capital, IDG Capital, and NetDragon Websoft are all blockchain-focused organizations. Polygon Ventures is even involved in the Neopets Metaverse marketplace, where a Polygon account is currently required to trade Neocollectibles. Polygon Ventures is investing in other blockchain-based play-for-earning services like Sandbox, which has worked with Ubisoft and Atari.

While the Medium post and various statements released by the newly independent developer note that current plans for the Neopets brand as a whole do not include cryptocurrency and NFTs, they make no mention of Web3 or blockchain, potentially leaving the door open for non-NFT and non-cryptocurrency-specific businesses in the blockchain.

Since the announcement, many gamers have flooded message boards, social media sites, and forums to express their excitement and hope for the platform. Many are certainly cautious about this new shift in direction. Reddit user u/artisanal_doughnut points out that this could be a last ditch effort for the Neopets team if their plans fail.

Image source: Reddit

IGN has contacted World of Neopia Inc. for comment regarding both the missing roadmap and the brand’s future involvement in Web3 ventures and has not received a response at the time of writing.

Ultimately, most Neopians share the same sentiment: they want to enjoy the game like before without wading through unmoderated forums, inflated in-game prices, broken minigames, and questionable monetization practices. Between the lack of a roadmap for the “new era” of gaming and the possibility of Web3 reappearing in Neopia, the future of gaming could be less bright than gamers think.

Charlie Wacholz is a freelance writer at IGN.

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