Back in 2005, Webkinz became a browser game, hitting its peak in 2009 with a player base of about 3.2 million. There was quite a charm about getting to the store with your family, finding a stuffed toy, with a whole little life attached to its paw, and running back home to see it light up on the big screen, smile in place. For many people, this was the first real experience with a browser game in general, seeing as the toys themselves were marketed for the younger market. You would input a code, and there your toy was staring right at you, willing you to make friends and follow community guidelines. Now. Now, that joy is back.
Disable the flash
Webkinz was built on the system that most games were back in that day, their engine, so to speak, and in 2020, just five years ago, Adobe Flash was put to rest out in the pasture. The regretful passing of the noble steed took out a majority of online browsers and gaming sites- Webkins was not spared the torturous culling, shutting down 15 years after its creation. Aside from the Mobile versions and an application for the PC and Mac, it could no longer linger as one of 50 open tabs. As of later this year, Webkinz will be returning to that growing collection.
Looking for a bright future
Along with the release of what they are demining Webkinz classic the developers intend to add on content with features both missing and new, and while this will take a while to get to that stage, the creators are excited to share with the remaining player base just what they can push the game into doing. How much more can they have our little pets do? In this day and age could you have an AI chatbot conversation with your pet at some point? Can they help with taxes? The release is being aimed for early Q4 this year with conversations about early beta helpers for bug testing. More information will be released about that in the upcoming months.
Can’t keep a good game down
The death of Adobe Flash player was such a shame to childhood classics like Club Penguin pet pet park and of course, Webkins. The main reason for this violent crime was how outdated the system really was with a little bit of privacy concerns sprinkled in for flavor. It just could not keep up with the speed of growing technology. They now have alternates in places to use such as HTML5 and WebGL that will stand in as an upgrade. It’s just nice to see that 20 years after the release the creators have not given up on this version of their game, instead finding workarounds. Now! It’s time to get that pet a job!
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