Club Penguin, the Disney‑owned, Flash‑based massively multiplayer online game that ran from 2005 until 2017, shaped the online experiences of a whole 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 discontinued Flash, the beloved penguin world vanished, and its mobile‑only successor, Club Penguin Island, never managed to capture the same magic. Launched in early 2017, the new title folded in December 2018, barely a year and a half after its debut.
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 championed. "Kids used to graduate from preschool‑age apps like Peppa Pig to Club Penguin, where they learned the basics of staying safe online, how to use moderation tools, and how to interact responsibly," he explains. "Now they jump straight from Peppa Pig into Roblox, and that leap is too big.
The platform exposes them to adult‑centric social tools and competitive environments for which they are not developmentally ready." He adds that in many competitive games younger players become "chum in the water" for older teens and adults, making them vulnerable to predatory behavior. This concern is the driving force behind Magic Potion Games, a studio MacDonald founded to create a spiritual successor to Club Penguin.
Backed by investors such as Square Enix, 1AM Gaming, 1Up Ventures, and Konvoy Ventures, and guided by industry veterans including Bungie co‑founder Alex Seropian and Club Penguin co‑founder Lane Merrifield, the studio is developing Imagine Island, a game built around live moderation and age‑appropriate safety for children aged six to thirteen. "Our mission was simple: re‑enter that space and give kids a safe stepping‑stone after preschool apps, so they can later graduate to platforms like Roblox when they’re ready," MacDonald says.
He is based in Kelowna, British Columbia—the same region where New Horizon Interactive first built Club Penguin in the early 2000s before Disney acquired it in 2007. Having overseen game design and production for Club Penguin for several years, MacDonald remembers the extensive safeguards that were put in place. "Few people realize how much effort went into protecting kids.
We employed hundreds of live moderators whose sole job was to keep the chat clean, to flag and remove bad actors, and to work hand‑in‑hand with law‑enforcement to expel predators as quickly as possible," he notes. He also points out that the studio created the technology behind Community Sift, a sophisticated chat‑filter and moderation system pioneered by Chris Priebe (brother of Club Penguin developer Lance Priebe) and later acquired by Microsoft in 2021. At the time, it was cutting‑edge. Beyond brute‑force moderation, Club Penguin used subtle behavioural nudges.
MacDonald recounts an example where a player typed a mildly edgy comment; the system pretended the message had been delivered, but silently blocked it. The player would see no reaction from peers, feel awkward, and eventually adjust their language. This form of social engineering helped steer the community toward acceptable content without heavy‑handed censorship.
The demise of Flash was the final nail in Club Penguin’s coffin. While MacDonald was not involved with 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 huge portion of our audience still played on PCs. Club Penguin ran on anything—from high‑end desktops to a toaster.
That universality was part of its secret sauce," he says. Since Club Penguin’s shutdown, Roblox has exploded. Statista reports daily active users grew from 13.7 million in Q4 2018 to 144 million in Q4 2025. MacDonald has been watching the platform since its inception.
"Roblox started as a tools platform, not a children’s product. Its DNA is fundamentally different from Club Penguin, which was built expressly for kids," he observes. He does credit Roblox for its massive engagement, recalling a moment when his team played the early Roblox title Work at a Pizza Place and realized they were facing a new kind of competition. Nevertheless, MacDonald stresses that platforms hosting children bear a responsibility to protect them.
He points to the recent U.S. Senate investigation into Roblox, which alleged that the company prioritises revenue and engagement over child safety.
Roblox has since introduced age verification for chat, a "sensitive issues" content label in 2025, and in 2024 blocked direct messaging for users under 13. Imagine Island was born from a simple question: "What is the DNA of Club Penguin that we should carry forward, and how do we adapt it for a new generation that plays differently?" After leaving Electronic Arts in 2023—following the closure of his studio—MacDonald reunited with former Club Penguin colleagues Sascha Williams and Karin Johnson. Together they pitched the concept to venture capitalists and secured several million dollars to prototype the game.
The core of their development philosophy was safety first. "We defined fundamental moderation rules before we even thought about fun," MacDonald says. Once those safeguards were in place, they began testing gameplay. Imagine Island lets players craft a custom avatar, explore a vibrant island, take part in minigames, complete quests, and join community challenges.
The title has already attracted a sizable user base; within a few months of its beta launch in August, it surpassed one million users without any substantial marketing spend. Like the original Club Penguin, Imagine Island runs in a web browser thanks to a partnership with CrazyGames, and the team is planning IP collaborations and a major marketing push slated for December. Safety remains the north star. The game employs the GGWP moderation suite alongside human moderators, and the team is actively exploring AI tools that can detect problematic 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 adult supervisors keep watch to keep predators out.
While AI shows promise, MacDonald believes human intuition is still superior. "AI isn’t anywhere near what a human can perceive right now, but as we scale we’ll integrate more automation," he says. Imagine Island also limits user‑generated content.
Players cannot upload custom assets, allowing the studio to control visual elements. Nevertheless, users can arrange existing assets in ways that might be inappropriate, so the moderation team reviews in‑game spaces as well. When asked about the odd phrase "time‑to‑penis"—a tongue‑in‑cheek reference to how the system handles edgy jokes—MacDonald laughed and confirmed it was indeed a real internal term, explaining that the game subtly blocks jokes that could be misinterpreted, ensuring that nothing overtly inappropriate appears on screen.
He stresses that the platform must pass the "over‑the‑shoulder" test: if a parent walked by and asked what their child was playing, the game should look wholesome and safe. This mindset guides every design decision, from chat filters to visual assets.
The pandemic accelerated the importance of virtual worlds. Many children spent formative years online, learning that their digital presence mattered as much as their physical one. Roblox became a virtual mall for that generation, but MacDonald notes that the core ways kids play have not changed dramatically. Features like Roblox’s Adopt Me are essentially modern versions of Club Penguin’s Puffle system.
He is surprised how few developers have attempted to fill Club Penguin’s niche. "It blows my mind that there’s such a gap.
The opportunity is huge," he says. For MacDonald, creating Imagine Island is a responsibility. He wants the game to be a positive contribution—a deposit in the world’s cultural bank rather than a withdrawal.
He recalls a poignant moment when the Make‑A‑Wish Foundation brought a terminally ill child to the Club Penguin studio; the child drew a penguin, and the experience left MacDonald with a profound sense of the impact games can have. "Seeing that child’s joy reminded me that video games are more important than many people acknowledge," he reflects.
"That memory never left me, and it fuels my commitment to building a safe, fun world for the next generation."