Club Penguin, the Disney‑owned Flash MMO that entertained kids from 2005 until its shutdown in 2017, was a defining part of many childhoods. 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, failed to capture the same magic, closing its doors in December 2018, just eighteen months after launch. In the meantime, Roblox has surged to become the first online experience for countless youngsters.
Yet MacDonald argues that Roblox does not replicate the safety‑first ethos that made Club Penguin a trustworthy space for young players. "Kids used to graduate from preschool‑age titles like Peppa Pig to Club Penguin, where they learned how to stay safe online and practiced using parental‑controlled tools. After that, they could move on to more competitive games like Fortnite," he explains. "Now the path is Peppa Pig straight to Roblox, and that jump is too big.
Those kids aren’t ready for the social dynamics and adult interaction that Roblox encourages. In many competitive titles they become easy prey for older players, and the environment isn’t designed with their protection in mind." Motivated by this gap, MacDonald founded Magic Potion Games with the explicit goal of creating a spiritual successor to Club Penguin.
Backed by investors such as Square Enix, 1AM Gaming, 1Up Ventures, and Konvoy Ventures, and advised by industry veterans including Bungie co‑founder Alex Seropian and Club Penguin co‑founder Lane Merrifield, the studio is developing Imagine Island. The new title places live moderation, age‑appropriate safety mechanisms, and a child‑friendly design at its core, targeting players aged six to thirteen.
"Our mission was simple: re‑enter that space and give kids coming from preschool titles a safe playground before they graduate to platforms like Roblox," says MacDonald. "Imagine Island is that bridge." MacDonald lives in Kelowna, British Columbia—the same region where New Horizon Interactive originally built Club Penguin before Disney’s 2007 acquisition. He oversaw game design and production for Club Penguin for several years and remembers the extensive measures taken to protect young users. "Few people realize how much effort went into safeguarding our community.
We employed hundreds of live moderators whose sole job was to monitor chat, filter content, and act swiftly against predators. We partnered closely with law‑enforcement agencies to report and remove bad actors as quickly as possible," he recounts. "We also created the technology behind Community Sift, a sophisticated chat‑filter and moderation system spearheaded by Chris Priebe, which Microsoft later acquired in 2021.
At the time it was cutting‑edge." Beyond technology, the original game used subtle behavioural nudges. MacDonald cites an example where a player attempted to send a mildly edgy comment; the system silently blocked it while showing the player that the message never reached others, creating a social cue that discouraged inappropriate language. "It was like telling a joke that no one laughs at—you feel the awkwardness and adjust.
That kind of social engineering helped shape a healthier community." The demise of Club Penguin was largely due to the loss of Flash, and while MacDonald was not involved in Club Penguin Island, he believes the shift to mobile‑only was misguided. "There was pressure to go mobile because everyone seemed to have a smartphone, but a large portion of our audience still played on PCs. Club Penguin ran on anything—from a high‑end desktop to a basic toaster‑powered browser. That universal accessibility was part of its secret sauce," he says.
Since Club Penguin’s closure, Roblox’s user base has exploded—from 13.7 million daily active users in Q4 2018 to 144 million in Q4 2025, according to Statista. MacDonald notes that Roblox began as a tool‑creation platform rather than a children‑first product, which fundamentally differentiates its DNA from Club Penguin’s. "Roblox is impressive in how it engages users, and credit where it’s due.
I still remember the first time our design team played ‘Work at a Pizza Place’ on Roblox and realized we were in trouble because we didn’t have the tech to compete," he recalls. "It signaled a shift in the industry, but the responsibility to protect kids on such platforms is still lacking." The U.S. Senate recently opened an investigation into Roblox, alleging that the platform prioritises revenue and engagement over child safety.
Roblox has since introduced age verification for chat, a “sensitive issues” content label in 2025, and blocked direct messaging for under‑13s in 2024, but concerns remain. Imagine Island was conceived by asking, “What are the core 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—following the shutdown 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 development philosophy placed safety at the top of the checklist.
"We first asked: how will we moderate? How will we ensure kids are protected online?
Those rules became the foundation, and then we layered fun on top," MacDonald explains. Imagine Island lets players craft custom avatars, explore a vibrant island, complete quests, play mini‑games, and join community challenges. Within months of its beta launch in August, the game surpassed one million users without any significant marketing spend. The title is available in browsers through a partnership with CrazyGames, echoing Club Penguin’s original cross‑platform accessibility.
Future plans include IP collaborations and a major marketing push slated for December. Safety remains the north star: the studio employs the GGWP moderation suite alongside human moderators and is exploring AI‑driven tools to flag risky conversation patterns. "My number‑one rule is: are kids safe?
Everything else comes after that," MacDonald asserts. He likens the environment to an elementary school playground—children are free to roam in groups, but adults constantly supervise to keep predators out. While AI shows promise, MacDonald cautions that it cannot yet replace human intuition.
"Human moderators understand nuance the way a seasoned teacher does. As we scale, we’ll incorporate AI, but human oversight will stay essential." User‑generated content is permitted, but the platform restricts asset uploads, allowing the team to control visual elements. Nevertheless, players can rearrange existing assets in ways that might be problematic, so the moderation team also reviews player‑built spaces. When asked about a peculiar phrase that appeared in the interview transcript, MacDonald laughed, confirming it was an inside joke that had been sanitized for public consumption.
He reiterates that safety is paramount, noting that children will inevitably test boundaries. "If a parent walked by and saw a child playing Imagine Island, would the content pass the ‘sniff test’? That’s the lens we keep in mind. We design to minimise the chance that kids stumble upon inappropriate shapes or language." The pandemic accelerated the importance of virtual worlds for a generation that spent formative years online.
"Kids learned that their digital presence mattered as much as their physical one. Roblox became a virtual mall for them, but the core play patterns—like adopting virtual pets—are direct descendants of Club Penguin’s Puffle system," MacDonald observes.
He is surprised that few modern games have attempted to replicate Club Penguin’s safe‑for‑kids model. "It’s a massive opportunity. As a developer, I feel a responsibility to contribute something positive, a deposit rather than a withdrawal, to the cultural bank of online play." MacDonald 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. Seeing how much that meant to them was a punch to the heart—it reminded me how seriously we should take the impact of games on young lives." In summary, Imagine Island seeks to revive the wholesome, moderated environment that made Club Penguin a safe haven for children, while updating the experience for today’s tech‑savvy generation. By prioritising live moderation, age‑appropriate tools, and a community‑first design, the game aspires to become the bridge between preschool entertainment and the broader, often less‑regulated world of platforms like Roblox.