Club Penguin, the Disney‑owned, Flash‑based massively multiplayer online game that ran from 2005 until its shutdown in 2017, shaped the online experiences of an entire generation of kids. According to Stephen MacDonald—who served as a senior manager at Disney between 2012 and 2015—the platform once boasted more than 300 million registered accounts at its height. When Adobe Flash was retired, the beloved penguin world vanished, and its mobile‑only follow‑up, Club Penguin Island, never managed to capture the same magic; it closed its doors in December 2018, barely a year and a half after launch.
Today, many children’s first foray into the internet comes via Roblox. MacDonald, however, argues that Roblox cannot replace the safety‑first philosophy that Club Penguin offered. "A typical path used to be: a preschool‑age kid would start with something like Peppa Pig, then move on to Club Penguin to learn online safety tools, and later graduate to titles such as Fortnite," he explains.
"Now kids jump straight from Peppa Pig to Roblox, and that leap is too risky for their age. They aren’t prepared for the adult‑filled social environment and the competitive games where younger players become easy prey." To address this gap, MacDonald founded Magic Potion Games, a venture backed by Square Enix, 1AM Gaming, 1Up Ventures and Konvoy Ventures, and advised by industry veterans like Bungie co‑founder Alex Seropian and Club Penguin co‑founder Lane Merrifield. Their upcoming title, Imagine Island, is being built around live moderation, age‑appropriate safety mechanisms, and a target audience of children aged six to thirteen.
"Our goal was to re‑enter that space and give preschool‑grade kids a safe stepping‑stone before they move on to platforms like Roblox," MacDonald says. "Imagine Island is meant to be that bridge." MacDonald lives in Kelowna, British Columbia—the same region where New Horizon Interactive first created Club Penguin in the early 2000s before Disney’s acquisition in 2007. He oversaw game design and production for Club Penguin for several years and recalls the extensive measures taken to protect young users.
"Few people realized how much effort went into safeguarding the community," he notes. "We employed hundreds of live moderators, collaborated closely with law‑enforcement to flag and remove predators, and built cutting‑edge tools like Community Sift, a chat‑filter system later purchased by Microsoft in 2021." Beyond technology, the original game used subtle behavioral nudges.
For example, if a player typed a borderline comment, the system would silently block it while showing the player that the message never reached others—creating a social feedback loop that discouraged inappropriate language. The demise of Flash sealed Club Penguin’s fate, and MacDonald believes the subsequent mobile‑only pivot was misguided. "There was pressure to go mobile because everyone was on phones, but a large portion of our audience still accessed the game on PCs.
Club Penguin ran on anything—from a high‑end desktop to a basic toaster—making it universally accessible. That accessibility was part of its secret sauce." Since Club Penguin’s closure, Roblox has exploded, growing from 13.7 million daily active users in Q4 2018 to 144 million in Q4 2025, according to Statista.
MacDonald acknowledges Roblox’s success but stresses a fundamental difference in purpose. "Roblox started as a tool platform for creators, not as a children‑focused product. Its DNA is very different from Club Penguin, which was built from the ground up for kids." He also praises Roblox’s ability to engage audiences: "When we first played ‘Work at a Pizza Place’ on Roblox, we realized we were in trouble because we lacked the tech to compete. The industry was shifting, and we saw Minecraft and Roblox pulling the younger crowd in new directions." Nevertheless, MacDonald warns that platforms hosting children must bear responsibility for their safety.
Recent U.S. Senate scrutiny of Roblox highlighted concerns that the service may prioritize revenue and engagement over child protection.
Roblox has since introduced age verification for chat, a “sensitive issues” content label in 2025, and restricted direct messaging for under‑13s in 2024. Imagine Island began with a simple question: "What core DNA of Club Penguin should we preserve, and how can we adapt it 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 seek venture capital. Their pitch resonated; they secured several million dollars to prototype the new world, placing safety at the forefront from day one.
The gameplay loop mirrors the original’s charm: players craft a custom avatar, explore a vibrant island, partake in minigames, complete quests, and join community challenges. Within months of its beta launch in August, Imagine Island surpassed one million users without any major marketing spend.
Like its predecessor, the game runs in a web browser thanks to a partnership with CrazyGames, and MacDonald hints at upcoming IP collaborations and an aggressive marketing push slated for December. Safety remains the non‑negotiable pillar. Imagine Island employs the GGWP moderation suite alongside human moderators, and the team is exploring AI tools to flag risky conversation patterns.
"My number‑one rule is: are the kids safe? Everything else comes after that," MacDonald emphasizes. He likens the environment to a supervised playground: "Think of it as an elementary school recess—kids can roam in groups, but adults are constantly watching to keep predators out." While AI shows promise, MacDonald believes human intuition still outperforms automated systems.
"AI isn’t yet at the level of a human moderator’s gut feeling, but as we scale we’ll integrate more AI assistance." User‑generated content is permitted, but the platform restricts asset uploads, allowing the team to control visual elements. Still, players can arrange existing assets in undesirable ways, prompting ongoing moderation of in‑game spaces. When asked about the phrase “time‑to‑penis,” MacDonald laughed, confirming it referred to the subtle nudges that discourage inappropriate jokes by making them fall flat in the chat, thereby teaching kids what is acceptable. He reiterates the parental‑view test: "If a parent walked by and saw a child playing Imagine Island, would the screen pass their sniff test?
That’s the benchmark we use." The world has shifted dramatically since Club Penguin’s shutdown, especially after the COVID‑19 pandemic, which thrust many children into virtual spaces as essential social outlets. "Kids learned that their online presence mattered as much as their physical one," MacDonald notes, observing that Roblox has become a virtual mall for a generation.
Yet many gameplay fundamentals remain unchanged. "Adopt Me on Roblox is essentially the modern version of Club Penguin’s Puffle system," he observes, highlighting the continuity of core mechanics. MacDonald is surprised by the scarcity of games that truly follow Club Penguin’s legacy.
"It blows my mind—there’s a huge opportunity to fill that void." He feels a deep responsibility as a developer: "I want my work to deposit something positive into the world, not withdraw. Anyone who worked on Club Penguin knows how impactful it was." 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 says, describing the experience as a "punch to the heart" that underscored the profound influence video games can have. In summary, Stephen MacDonald and his team at Magic Potion Games are striving to recreate the safe, whimsical environment that made Club Penguin a cultural touchstone, while integrating modern technology and rigorous moderation to protect today’s digital‑native children. Imagine Island aims to be the next safe haven where young gamers can explore, create, and learn without the looming threats that now pervade many online platforms.