Club Penguin, the Disney‑owned, Flash‑based massively multiplayer online game that ran from 2005 until its shutdown in 2017, shaped the childhood of an entire generation. According to Stephen MacDonald—who served as a senior manager at Disney between 2012 and 2015—the platform boasted more than 300 million registered accounts at its height. When Adobe Flash was finally retired, the beloved penguin‑filled world vanished, and its mobile‑first replacement, Club Penguin Island, failed to capture the imagination of players.
Launched in early 2017, the spin‑off was discontinued in December 2018, barely a year and a half after its debut. In the meantime, Roblox has surged to become many kids’ first foray into the broader internet.
MacDonald, however, argues that Roblox cannot replicate the safety‑first philosophy that defined Club Penguin. He recalls a typical progression for young users: "A child would start with a preschool‑oriented title like Peppa Pig, then move on to Club Penguin to learn how to stay safe online, pick up the right tools, and eventually graduate to more competitive experiences such as Fortnite." "Today the path looks different," he says.
"Kids jump straight from Peppa Pig to Roblox, and that leap is too abrupt for their developmental stage. The social mechanics of Roblox expose them to a large adult population and to interactions they aren’t ready for. In many competitive titles they become prey for older teens and adults, and the environment can be socially unsafe." To address this gap, MacDonald founded Magic Potion Games, a studio backed by Square Enix, 1AM Gaming, 1Up Ventures, and Konvoy Ventures.
He has also consulted with industry veterans such as Bungie co‑founder Alex Seropian and Club Penguin co‑founder Lane Merrifield. Their flagship project, Imagine Island, is being built with live moderation, age‑appropriate safety tools, and a target audience of children aged six to thirteen.
"Our mission was simple: re‑enter the space that served kids transitioning from preschool titles and give them a safe bridge before they move on to platforms like Roblox," MacDonald explains. "Imagine Island should be that safe harbor where they can explore, play, and learn without the constant threat of predatory behavior." MacDonald lives in Kelowna, British Columbia—the same region where New Horizon Interactive first created Club Penguin in the early 2000s before Disney acquired the IP in 2007.
He spent several years overseeing game design and production for Club Penguin and remembers the extensive safeguards the original team put in place. "Few people realized how much effort went into protecting kids," he says. "We employed hundreds of live moderators whose sole job was to monitor chat, filter content, and work closely with law‑enforcement agencies to remove predators as quickly as possible. We even built the technology that later became Community Sift, a sophisticated chat‑filter system developed by Chris Priebe and later purchased by Microsoft in 2021.
At the time, it was cutting‑edge." Beyond technology, the team used subtle behavioural nudges. MacDonald recounts an example where a player typed a borderline comment; the system silently blocked it while showing the player that their message never reached others, creating a natural social deterrent. "It felt like telling a joke that no one laughs at—people quickly learn to adjust their language. We essentially engineered the social environment to promote wholesome interaction." The demise of Flash ultimately killed Club Penguin, and while MacDonald was not involved with the mobile‑only Club Penguin Island, he believes the shift away from a cross‑platform experience was misguided.
"There was pressure to go mobile‑only because everyone was on smartphones, but a huge portion of our community still played on PCs. Club Penguin ran on virtually any device—even a toaster—thanks to its lightweight design.
That accessibility was a core part of its success." Since Club Penguin’s closure, Roblox has exploded. Statista reports daily active users grew from 13.7 million in Q4 2018 to 144 million in Q4 2025. MacDonald notes that Roblox started as a tool‑creation platform rather than a children‑focused product, which fundamentally differentiates its DNA from Club Penguin’s kid‑first design. He does give credit where it’s due: "When we first tried Roblox’s ‘Work at a Pizza Place’, we realized we were in trouble because we lacked the technology to compete.
The rise of Roblox and Minecraft signaled a shift in how young audiences consumed games, and we recognized a changing of the guard." Nevertheless, he stresses that platforms hosting children bear a responsibility to protect them. Recent US Senate scrutiny of Roblox highlights concerns that the platform may prioritize revenue and engagement over safety. Roblox has since introduced age verification for chat, a "sensitive issues" content tag in 2025, and in 2024 blocked direct messaging for users under 13.
Imagine Island was conceived by asking, "What are the essential DNA elements of Club Penguin that we should carry forward, and how can we adapt them for a new generation that plays differently?" After leaving Electronic Arts in 2023, MacDonald reunited with former Club Penguin colleagues—Sascha Williams and Karin Johnson—to raise venture capital and turn the idea into a reality. Their pitch resonated, securing several million dollars to prototype the game. The core of Imagine Island revolves around safety. The team established fundamental moderation rules before focusing on fun.
Players create custom avatars, explore a vibrant island, engage in minigames, complete quests, and participate in community challenges. Within months of its beta launch in August, the title surpassed one million users without any significant marketing spend. Like its predecessor, Imagine Island runs in a web browser thanks to a partnership with CrazyGames, ensuring low‑barrier access. MacDonald hints at upcoming intellectual‑property collaborations and a major marketing push slated for December, describing it as a "big moment" for the studio.
Safety remains the north star. The game employs the GGWP moderation suite alongside human reviewers, and the team is actively exploring AI tools that can detect harmful conversation patterns. "My number one rule is: are kids safe? Everything else comes after that," MacDonald emphasizes.
He likens the environment to an elementary school playground: children can roam in groups, but vigilant adults supervise to keep predators at bay. While AI shows promise, MacDonald cautions that human intuition still outperforms automated systems. As the platform scales, they will integrate more AI, but human oversight will remain essential. User‑generated content is permitted, but the system restricts asset uploads, allowing the studio to control visual elements.
Nevertheless, players can rearrange existing assets in ways that might be problematic, requiring ongoing moderation of player‑created spaces. When asked about a cryptic phrase that appeared in internal notes, MacDonald laughed, confirming it was an inside joke about "time‑to‑penis"—a tongue‑in‑cheek reference to the kind of inappropriate content they vigilantly block.
He reiterates that safety is paramount: "We always run an 'over‑the‑shoulder' test. If a parent walked by and asked what the child was playing, would the screen be acceptable? That test guides every design decision." The pandemic amplified the importance of virtual worlds for children, many of whom spent formative years online.
MacDonald observes that games like Roblox’s "Adopt Me!" are essentially modern iterations of Club Penguin’s beloved Puffle system. He is surprised that few developers have attempted to recreate the wholesome, safe experience that Club Penguin offered. "There’s a massive opportunity here," he says. "As a developer, I feel a responsibility to contribute positively to the world.
I want this project to be a deposit in the global cultural bank, not a withdrawal. Those who worked on Club Penguin understand its impact." He recalls a poignant moment when the Make‑A‑Wish Foundation brought a terminally ill child to the Club Penguin studio. "We drew them as a penguin," he remembers, describing the experience as a "punch to the heart" that underscored how seriously video games should be taken. In summary, Imagine Island seeks to revive the safe, community‑driven spirit of Club Penguin for today’s children, offering a moderated, age‑appropriate playground that bridges the gap between preschool entertainment and the more unfiltered realms of platforms like Roblox.
The team’s commitment to live moderation, thoughtful design, and parental reassurance positions the game as a promising successor in a market hungry for a secure digital haven for kids.