A Letter from the founders of Club Penguin

We’re delighted to announce Club Penguin has joined the Walt Disney Company in a business partnership that will provide a wide range of exciting and unique development opportunities.

When we launched Club Penguin in October 2005 we had a clear vision of a virtual world so fun and safe that we, and other adults around the world, would feel completely comfortable letting our own children and grandchildren visit. As word about Club Penguin spread and the popularity of the site grew, we were approached by countless international organizations about partnerships. From the outset, we made it clear we weren’t willing to compromise the integrity of what we’d created and would only work with a company that shared our founding principles and core values.

Disney is that company. It is the world’s best loved and most respected provider of family entertainment with a strong commitment to providing safe fun. As Club Penguin heads into its third year in operation, the Walt Disney Company is perfectly positioned to help take it to the next level.

Although we’ve achieved great success to date and have reached more children than we ever dreamed in a relatively short period of time without having to rely on advertising or other traditional forms of marketing, there are limits to what a small, independent company like ours can accomplish alone. Disney’s resources, infrastructure and experience will allow Club Penguin to provide an even better online entertainment experience to existing users while allowing greater global reach.

One of our long range plans has always been to open the Club Penguin experience up to a broader range of users by offering Club Penguin in languages other than English. That is now a much more immediate goal, and it’s just one example of what this partnership will mean for Club Penguin. With Disney’s backing, our creative and talented staff will be able to innovate and produce new content much more quickly and efficiently, making the website more fun, exciting and safe than ever before.

As the site’s founders, we will continue to lead and guide Club Penguin, retaining control over the day-to-day operations and direction of the site while working closely with Disney to make Club Penguin the best it can be. In addition, we remain committed to our policy of allowing no advertising on the site.

As we move into this next exciting stage in Club Penguin’s development we want to thank you for your support and for entrusting us with the care of your children as they waddle around and meet new friends in the snowy virtual world we created.



Sincerely,
<The signatures of the Founders of Club Penguin>

You can read the full article with pictures here (http://clubpenguin.com/news.htm).

:o!!!!!!!!

:o

Great, another game they can go ban happy in.

Whee.... Like I Care...... Oh Well More Bans Woot!

Nice! A place for me to go for awhile. I will make a mary poppins looking penguin!

Maybe we will be able to say penguin now.

I feel bad for most of my friends- They go on Club Penguin to swear and get banned. I hope Club Penguin understands they should do IP bans too LOL
Anyways, I hope this doesn't get out of control.

Yeap, it's all over the front page of Disney

Cool! My sis loooves clubpenguin, I used to play but got bored a bit. (Also bored with Vmk, heh)I hope this works out into a success.

Belle~~

this is awesome :)

I feel bad for most of my friends- They go on Club Penguin to swear and get banned. I hope Club Penguin understands they should do IP bans too LOL
Anyways, I hope this doesn't get out of control.

I do not Allow my kids to go to Club Penquin bc of the language and the fact that you can say peoples real names.........Maybe being owned by Disney will clean it up

Yes, I used to play club penguin now I'll play it ALOT more!

Look, let's make Club Penguin a promotion site! WHEE!

-_-

Forget paying for it anymore

Maybe we will be able to say penguin now.

That's the only part I care about in this story.

Bring back the bird.

:O maybe mickey ears will come out on club penguin

club penguin is lame :l

I bought two puffles today :)
It's more fun then I thought, my name is Kebsd, though... they don't like my caps -_-
I hate how you can't do much without buying the game. Hopefully Disney will change that. I'll make guest rooms the things to do if they let us buy everything for our room! =D

~Key

...Where in the article did it say that Disney now OWNS Club Penguin? Seems to me that Disney is just a sponsor.

For all you ppl who TRY to get banned:that's sad trying to mess up a kids' game, go get a life ... I tried going on club penguin but uh .. it was too boring imo

Club Penguin is fun, when your bored for ten minutes.
o_o owned, and going into partnership are two diffarent things i beilieve.

No way!!!!
Cool Vmk And Club Penguin my two farvitroe virtual worlds are disney!!! Woot

Disney is going crazy (probualy bc its there first virtual game where you have to pay to play)

Nooooooooooooooooo! Club Penguin was my only connection to the internet that wasn't owned by disney :(:(

Wow! I used to play that before I came to VMK. I hope we don't have to pay to play now.

Oh geee...i thought when ur banned from vmk u look for something else to do not go to Club Penguin and get banned as well.

I do not Allow my kids to go to Club Penquin bc of the language and the fact that you can say peoples real names.........Maybe being owned by Disney will clean it up

there is a safe chat system so they can say excepted words. they select them. thats what i think the other option is

...Where in the article did it say that Disney now OWNS Club Penguin? Seems to me that Disney is just a sponsor.It's not completely clear from the letter in the OP (which appears to be something sent to Club Penguin members) but Disney did definitely purchase club penguin. They paid at least $350, and could pay up to $600 million total if the game does well for Disney. If you're interested, you could try doing a news search for 'Disney' and 'Penguin.'

I Go On Club Penguin When Im Bored. But Its Not Really Safe The Non-Safe Chat But I Barely Go On.

I tried Club Penguin a long time ago and it was really boring, I hope Disney will make it better.

- Ace

i really dont like club penguin bc u have to pay.i tried it and it was no fun. dont get me wrong penguins are awesome! but i dont like them when you have to pay to dress them up..

I Go On Club Penguin When Im Bored. But Its Not Really Safe The Non-Safe Chat But I Barely Go On.

I know,there is no language blocking or anything like that.

oh maybe now u wont have to pay!!
im not allow to do the pay :(

Wow, really? That's cool! I wonder if new safety measures will be added O_o AHHH!!!!!!!!!

Yup this is true. Sony offered 60 Million and then Disney offered 350 Million.

Yup this is true. Sony offered 60 Million and then Disney offered 350 Million.

Whoa!:thahggeek27fz: That's a whole lotta money!

Goodness tha's alot of money! I wonder if anyone will ever buy VMK...

Wow that is alot. @_@

Well when Disney bought Pixar for 7.4 Billion, this must seem like nothing to them :Tongue:. It's all over the Disney website so they seemed to be excited for it.

Yea, Disney.com got a club penguin layout..
i quit cause of this.

Yea, Disney.com got a club penguin layout..
i quit cause of this.

Quit VMK or quit Club Penguin?

WHOAH! That seems a little cool! A Little! lol

Totally i have been playing clubpenguin for i would say 1 year now but maybe now that i think of it club penguin "Member" Prices not might go up because disney paied so much for it

Totally i have been playing clubpenguin for i would say 1 year now but maybe now that i think of it club penguin "Member" Prices not might go up because disney paied so much for it

I doubt it will go up. They have 700,000 paying members. They will earn the money back, and then some.

Anyone care to explain what club penguin is? :confused:

Anyone care to explain what club penguin is? :confused:

Club Penguin is a game similar to VMK, but the avatars are all penguins.

Nothing will change in clubpenguin. So don't worry. They only wanted to look for a company to work with.Disney happened to accept.

Club Penguin is a game similar to VMK, but the avatars are all penguins.

Thanks for explaining. I played the game last night, it was pretty fun.

Just and addition to my post. Disney isn't exactly owned by Disney. It is still owned by the original owners

Disney isn't exactly owned by Disney? If you mean Club Penguin isn't owned by Disney, then I think you're misinformed. Disney bought it. The old team will apparently still be involved, but it's a Disney product now.

Club Penguin is what ex-VMKers go to when they get sick of the strict dictionary. I've attemped Club Penguin, but I personally found it boring. My opinion.

Disney isn't exactly owned by Disney? If you mean Club Penguin isn't owned by Disney, then I think you're misinformed. Disney bought it. The old team will apparently still be involved, but it's a Disney product now.

But the game is still goingto be the same. Club Penguin is ok with that

I am going to quote something.

We’re delighted to announce Club Penguin has joined the Walt Disney Company in a business partnership that will provide a wide range of exciting and unique development opportunities.

I found this on the clubpenguin site.

But the game is still goingto be the same. Club Penguin is ok with that

I am going to quote something.
We’re delighted to announce Club Penguin has joined the Walt Disney Company in a business partnership that will provide a wide range of exciting and unique development opportunities.
I found this on the clubpenguin site.I'm not saying the game is going to be different (I woudn't know one way or the other,) but it does belong to Disney now. Honestly. The club penguin site may be calling it a 'partnership,' but Forbes and Marketwatch both say Disney bought the game from its old owners.