Once massively popular web game that lets
you raise colourful creatures and complete mini-games all around Monstro City,
Moshi Monsters is shutting down. The Moshi Monsters site now has an “important
notice” as Ryan Brown spotted on Twitter that states it will close on December
13th at midday GMT (7am ET/4 am PT).
The Shut Down
“Thank you for joining us on the first part
of our monsterific journey and helping us make Moshi Monsters such a
splat-tastic online experience, thank you for joining us on the first part of
our monster journey and helping us make Moshi Monsters such a splat-tastic
online experience”, was his comment.
The site is shutting down because it is
currently running on Flash, a web technology that Adobe creator is expected to
destroy next year - Developer Mindy Candy said.
“(The closure) has been on our mind for some
time, since that decision was made by Adobe in 2017”, Mindy Candy’s CEO Ian
Chambers stated that. “So, we have known this moment was coming. But Moshi
Monsters had a very good run. It’s been live for 10 and bit years, and 100
million kids have engaged with it during that time. It’s an incredible story
and was one of the first, big, kid-focused online words.”
The Early Admirations
The site is still surprisingly popular,
according to Chambers. “I don’t know the numbers off the top of my head. But
I’m still surprised by how many people play the Flash game. Even though we have
to shut it down, it’s still a very popular web-based game. It’s just not
possible to take (the site) and move it into some other kind of platform. It’s
just not realistic or sensible business decision; Unfortunately, things have to
come to an end at some point.”
British entrepreneur Michael Acton Smith
created Moshi Monsters and launched it in April 2008. The iPhone was less than
a year old and there was still mobile gaming in its infancy.
The site quickly gained traction and by
December 2009, reportedly had 10 million players. Lady Gaga took legal action
over a Moshi character Lady Goo Goo. It was so big. With a range of merchandise
that included toys, books, trade cards, musical albums, Nintendo DS games, and
in December 2013, a feature-length film, the company capitalised on its rapidly
growing success.
The Moshi Monsters group had risen to 80
million by mid-2014. But the momentum of the site was obviously beginning to
slow down. Acton Smith announced in July that he was stepping down as CEO and
returning to the company in a more innovative role. Two months later, they laid
off 30 staff. At TechCrunch Disrupt London, Acton Smith then admitted that
engagement on the website was ‘coming well down’ and that current revenue was ‘not
good’.
With Moshi-themed games such as Moshi Karts
and Moshi Monsters Village, the company has already tried to adjust to the boom
in smartphone and tablet gaming. But none of them seemed to gain popularity at
the same stage as the website.
Mind Candy experimented with applications
that did not use the brand Moshi Monsters. These included Popjam, an Instagram
kid friendly version that was sold in September 2015 to child entertainment
company SuperAwesome and World of Warriors, a strategy title that was shut down
last year.
In February 2016, Mind Candy hired Chambers.
Moshi Monsters Egg Hunt, a smartphone game about capturing and hatching
Moshlings, and Moshi Twilight Sleep Stories, a night-time audio book app that
helps children fall asleep, have both been released by the company.
Mind Candy hopes that Egg Hunt is a totally
free app that will turn kids into fans of the brand. Meanwhile, Twilight Sleep
Stories is a subscription-based service targeted at parents who want their
children to have a stress free night time routine. Chambers said We’re not
selling (Twilight Sleep Stories) to kids, “We are basically selling parents a
tool”.
In December 2018, Mind Candy was reportedly
on the brink of administration. Nearly 12 months later, though the organisation
appears to be in a better place. Chambers said if you look at the number of
families now engaged with Moshi, it’s bigger than it has been for years”, that
success can be attributed, he added, to the new strategy of the company
regarding child health.
“We’re creating tools and services that
parents can enjoy”, he said. “And this is our new route. Moshi is now an IP
that is going to focus on health and well being of kids.” However, the CEO
acknowledges the generation of children – most of whom are now teenagers – who
played Moshi Monsters at their peak and react with sadness to the closure of
the site.
“(Moshi Monsters) is clearly something that
has had a very profound, significant impact on the lives of children, he said.
“And that’s wonderful. Now we’re trying to do the same with Moshi Twilight”.
Written by - Khadija Kapasi.
Edited by – Keerthana Lakshmi
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