Club Penguin, the Disney‑owned Flash MMO that entertained kids from 2005 until its shutdown in 2017, left an indelible mark on a whole generation. Stephen MacDonald, who served as a senior manager at Disney between 2012 and 2015, recalls that the game once boasted more than 300 million registered accounts at its height. When Adobe Flash was retired, the beloved penguin world vanished, and its mobile successor, Club Penguin Island, failed to capture the same magic, closing its doors in December 2018 after only eighteen months.
In the meantime, Roblox has risen to become many children’s first foray into online gaming. Yet MacDonald argues that Roblox cannot replace the safety‑first philosophy that defined Club Penguin.
"Kids used to graduate from preschool‑grade titles like Peppa Pig to Club Penguin, where they learned the basics of online safety and appropriate social tools," he explains. "Now they jump straight from Peppa Pig into Roblox, a platform that expects them to navigate complex social interactions with adults and older teens. That leap is too risky for young children." He adds that competitive games often treat younger players as "chum in the water" for older, more experienced users, exposing them to predatory behavior and other hazards. To address this gap, MacDonald launched Magic Potion Games, a venture backed by Square Enix, 1AM Gaming, 1Up Ventures and Konvoy Ventures, and advised by 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 mechanisms, and a target audience of children aged six to thirteen. "Our goal was to recreate that safe stepping‑stone environment for kids moving out of preschool‑grade apps," MacDonald says. "Once they’ve mastered online etiquette on Imagine Island, they’ll be ready for broader platforms like Roblox." MacDonald is based in Kelowna, British Columbia—the same region where New Horizon Interactive first developed Club Penguin in the early 2000s before Disney’s acquisition in 2007. He spent several years overseeing the game’s design and production and remembers the extensive measures taken to protect young users.
"Few people realize the sheer scale of the safety operation we ran," he notes. "We employed hundreds of live moderators, worked closely with law‑enforcement agencies to flag and remove predators, and built cutting‑edge filtering technology that later became Microsoft’s Community Sift." Beyond technology, the original team used subtle behavioral nudges. For example, if a player typed a borderline comment, the system would silently block it while showing the player that their message never reached anyone else, creating a natural deterrent. "It felt like telling a joke that falls flat—kids quickly learn to adjust their language," MacDonald recalls.
The demise of Club Penguin was largely tied to Flash’s obsolescence. Although MacDonald was not involved with Club Penguin Island, he believes the shift to a mobile‑only experience was misguided.
"There was pressure to go mobile because everyone was on phones, but a large segment of our audience still played on PCs. Club Penguin ran on anything—from a high‑end desktop to a simple 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 technical achievements but stresses that it was never designed as a children‑first platform.
"Roblox began as a tool suite for creators, not a kid‑centric environment. Its DNA is fundamentally different from Club Penguin’s, which was built from the ground up for younger players." He does give credit where it’s due, recalling the first time his team played the Roblox hit "Work at a Pizza Place" and realizing the platform’s potential to capture a massive audience.
Still, he warns that platforms hosting children bear a responsibility to protect them—a responsibility he feels is often overlooked. The U.S. Senate recently opened an investigation into Roblox, alleging that the company prioritizes revenue and engagement over child safety.
Roblox has since introduced age verification for chat, a "sensitive issues" content label, and, in 2024, disabled direct messaging for users under 13. These steps are progress, but MacDonald believes they are reactive rather than proactive. Imagine Island was born from a simple question: "What core DNA of Club Penguin should we carry forward, and how can we adapt it for a new generation that plays differently?" After leaving Electronic Arts in 2023, MacDonald re‑connected with former Club Penguin colleagues—Sascha Williams and Karin Johnson—to raise venture capital and prototype the new game. Their pitch resonated, and they secured several million dollars to bring Imagine Island to life, centering safety from day one.
In Imagine Island, players customize avatars, explore a vibrant island, complete quests, play mini‑games, and join community challenges. The title launched in open beta in August and quickly surpassed one million users without any paid marketing. Like its predecessor, it runs in a web browser via a partnership with CrazyGames, and the team plans a major marketing push later this year. Safety remains the cornerstone of the experience.
The game employs the GGWP moderation suite alongside human moderators and is experimenting with AI tools that can detect problematic 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 school playground—children can roam in groups, but vigilant adults keep an eye out for any misbehaviour. While AI moderation is improving, MacDonald cautions that it cannot yet replace human intuition.
"Human moderators can read context and nuance that algorithms miss. As we scale, we’ll integrate more AI, but human oversight will always be essential." User‑generated content is permitted, but the platform restricts asset uploads, allowing the team to control visual elements and prevent inappropriate constructions. Even with these safeguards, MacDonald acknowledges that kids will inevitably test boundaries. He uses the phrase "time‑to‑penis" to describe moments when children unintentionally create shapes or messages that could be misinterpreted.
The development team conducts an "over‑the‑shoulder" test: if a parent glanced at the screen, would the content appear appropriate? This test guides their moderation policies.
The pandemic amplified the importance of virtual worlds for children, many of whom spent formative years online. Roblox became a digital mall for a generation, yet many of its social mechanics echo Club Penguin’s original features—such as the "Adopt Me" pet system, which mirrors the old Puffle mechanic. MacDonald is surprised how few games have attempted to fill Club Penguin’s niche.
"It blows my mind that there’s still such a huge gap," he says. He feels a deep responsibility as a developer to contribute positively to the world, describing his work as a "deposit in the world bank" rather than a withdrawal. He recalls a poignant moment when the Make‑A‑Wish Foundation invited a terminally ill child to tour the Club Penguin studio. "We drew them as a penguin," he says, noting that the experience was a "punch to the heart" and reinforced his belief that video games can have profound, life‑changing impact.
In summary, Stephen MacDonald’s Imagine Island seeks to revive the safe, inclusive spirit of Club Penguin for today’s children, offering a moderated, age‑appropriate online playground that prepares kids for the broader internet while keeping their well‑being front and centre.