Club Penguin, the Disney‑owned Flash MMO that ran from 2005 until its shutdown in 2017, shaped the online experiences of an entire generation. According to Stephen MacDonald—who served as a senior manager at Disney between 2012 and 2015—the game boasted more than 300 million registered accounts at its height. When Adobe Flash was retired, the beloved penguin world vanished, and its mobile‑only successor, Club Penguin Island, failed to capture the same magic, closing its doors in December 2018 just eighteen months after launch. In the years that followed, Roblox emerged as many children’s first foray into a persistent online universe.
While the platform’s growth has been extraordinary, MacDonald argues that it cannot replace the safety‑first philosophy that defined Club Penguin. He explains that a typical progression used to look like this: a child would start with a preschool‑oriented brand such as Peppa Pig, then graduate to Club Penguin where they learned basic online‑safety habits, before eventually moving on to more competitive titles like Fortnite. Today, however, the path has shifted to Peppa Pig straight into Roblox, a leap MacDonald believes is too abrupt for young users.
He warns that the social tools in Roblox expose children to a broader adult audience, increasing the risk of predatory behavior and other unsafe interactions. To address this gap, MacDonald founded Magic Potion Games with the explicit goal of creating a spiritual successor to Club Penguin. Backed by investors including Square Enix, 1AM Gaming, 1Up Ventures and Konvoy Ventures, the studio has also consulted industry veterans such as Bungie co‑founder Alex Seropian and Club Penguin co‑founder Lane Merrifield.
Their flagship title, Imagine Island, is built around live moderation, age‑appropriate safety features, and a target audience of children aged six to thirteen. “Our mission was simple,” MacDonald says. “Re‑enter that space and give kids a safe stepping‑stone after preschool‑type apps, so they can later graduate to platforms like Roblox when they’re ready.” MacDonald is based in Kelowna, British Columbia—the same region where New Horizon Interactive originally developed Club Penguin in the early 2000s before Disney’s acquisition in 2007. He spent several years overseeing Club Penguin’s game design and production and recalls the extensive safeguards the original team employed.
"Few people realized how many live moderators we had—hundreds of staff whose sole job was to protect children’s content and to chase down bad actors. We worked closely with law‑enforcement agencies to report predators and remove them as quickly as possible," he notes.
One of the technical achievements of that era was the creation of Community Sift, a sophisticated chat‑filter and moderation engine spearheaded by Chris Priebe (brother of Club Penguin developer Lance Priebe). Microsoft acquired the technology in 2021, underscoring its lasting relevance.
Beyond brute‑force filtering, the original game employed subtle behavioral nudges. For example, if a player typed a borderline phrase, the system would silently block the message while showing the player that it had been “sent.” The lack of response acted as a social cue, encouraging the user to try a different, more appropriate comment. This kind of social engineering helped shape a community where undesirable content rarely broke through.
Flash’s demise ultimately killed Club Penguin, and while MacDonald was not involved in the mobile‑only Club Penguin Island, he believes the shift away from a cross‑platform approach was misguided. "There was pressure to go mobile because everyone was on phones, but a large portion of our audience still played on PCs.
Club Penguin worked on any device—even a toaster—thanks to its lightweight design. That accessibility was part of its secret sauce," he explains. Since then, Roblox’s user base has exploded, rising from 13.7 million daily active users in Q4 2018 to 144 million in Q4 2025, according to Statista. MacDonald acknowledges Roblox’s technical brilliance and its ability to engage a massive audience, but he stresses a fundamental difference in purpose.
"Roblox started as a tool platform, not a children‑first product. Club Penguin was built from the ground up for kids," he says.
He also points out that the U.S. Senate recently opened an investigation into Roblox, alleging that the platform prioritizes revenue and engagement over child safety. Roblox has responded with incremental safety measures—age verification for chat, a “sensitive issues” content label, and the removal of direct messaging for users under thirteen—but MacDonald believes more can be done.
Imagine Island was conceived by asking a straightforward question: what core DNA of Club Penguin should be carried forward, and how can it be adapted for today’s generation of players? After leaving Electronic Arts in 2023, MacDonald re‑connected with former Club Penguin colleagues—Sascha Williams, who once ran the Club Penguin studio, and Karin Johnson, who led the party team. Together they secured a few million dollars in venture capital, built a prototype, and placed safety at the forefront of every design decision. "We first asked, how do we moderate?
How do we guarantee a safe online environment for kids? Those were our foundational rules before we even thought about fun," he says. The gameplay loop mirrors the original’s charm: players craft a custom avatar, explore a vibrant island, complete quests, play mini‑games, and take part in community challenges.
Within months of its beta launch in August, Imagine Island surpassed one million users without any major marketing spend. The game runs in a web browser via a partnership with CrazyGames, echoing Club Penguin’s cross‑platform accessibility. MacDonald hints at upcoming IP collaborations and an aggressive marketing push slated for December, which he describes as a “real big moment.” Safety remains the non‑negotiable pillar of the project.
Imagine Island employs the GGWP moderation suite alongside a team of human moderators. MacDonald is also exploring AI‑driven tools that can flag risky conversation patterns, though he cautions that human intuition still outperforms current AI. "My number one rule is: are kids safe?
Everything else comes after that," he affirms. The platform also limits user‑generated content to prevent the upload of arbitrary assets, allowing the team to control visual elements while still offering players creative freedom to arrange existing items.
This controlled environment helps avoid situations where children might inadvertently create inappropriate shapes or symbols—what MacDonald humorously refers to as “time‑to‑penis” moments. He explains that the team constantly runs an “over‑the‑shoulder” test: if a parent walked by and saw the screen, would it pass a parental sniff test? The answer must always be yes.
Reflecting on the broader landscape, MacDonald notes that the COVID‑19 pandemic thrust many children into virtual worlds, making online social interaction as vital as physical play. Roblox, he observes, became a digital mall for a generation, yet the core mechanics—collecting pets, trading items, socializing—still echo Club Penguin’s original systems such as the Puffle pet feature. "Adopt Me on Roblox is essentially the modern incarnation of Club Penguin’s Puffles," he says, underscoring how few successors have truly captured the original’s spirit.
For MacDonald, the responsibility of creating a safe, positive digital space is personal. He recalls a Make‑A‑Wish visit where a child with a terminal illness toured the Club Penguin studio and was drawn as a penguin.
The experience left a lasting emotional imprint, reinforcing his belief that games can have profound, life‑affirming impact. "I want this to be a deposit in the world bank, not a withdrawal," he says.
"If you worked on Club Penguin, you understand how powerful that world was." Imagine Island aims to be more than nostalgia; it seeks to set a new standard for child‑centric online worlds, blending the beloved social sandbox of Club Penguin with modern technology and an uncompromising commitment to safety. The journey is just beginning, but with a clear mission and seasoned leadership, MacDonald believes the next generation of young gamers finally has a safe harbor before they set sail into the broader, more chaotic seas of platforms like Roblox.