vmk closing

[DistinctSpaceAgent]

i tink vmk closed because they lost a lot of there players to webkinz.com

does anybody now why vmk closed

[DocCalvin]

Well, I was not there when VMK closed, so I suppose you might be right there - partly. They say that VMK was part of a 50th Anniversary of Disneyland promotion. When it ended, it took VMK along with it. That's what I know, anyway...

[Kitri]

Vmk closed because Disney ended it's partenership with sulake.

[BuzzBoy133]

Well, theres no real answer to this. People have come up with ideas and such, but have not fully proven them. The oficial answer from Disney is that VMK was part of the 50th Celebration of Disneyland and was meant to close 16-18 months after it opend, but because of its popularity, stayed open for almost another 2 years. The answer is located at www.vmk.com

[Kitri]

Originally Posted by BuzzBoy133

Well, theres no real answer to this. People have come up with ideas and such, but have not fully proven them. The oficial answer from Disney is that VMK was part of the 50th Celebration of Disneyland and was meant to close 16-18 months after it opend, but because of its popularity, stayed open for almost another 2 years. The answer is located at www.vmk.com

That's the answer given to the public. The answer I gave above is my me logical estimate.

[lucky33325]

this is what happened: Disney made VMK with a japinese company named sulake, and sulake wasnt makin any money from it, so they disided to stop helping disney. ( webkinz isnt that popular, they were losing members to stuff like maplestory, world of warcraft, etc. ).

[StitchMad]

Do not believe anything anyone says unless they have FULL and COMPLETE proof. The true answer has not been released to the public and it is kept well within the company. The reason is not allowed to be shared.

[Zimonada]

At this point it doesn't really matter why it's closed. What matters is the fact that it's closed. Those who don't care about the fact it closed have already moved on to other things, and those who do care are focused on reopening it.

[RockieRoad]

i knew it from the beginning. it's the yeti's fault. no one believes me, but, oh, they will. one day, they WILL!

[EtnaGreen]

^No it was push's fault, once push left vmk fell apart. ^

I don't think it was webkinz because I played webkinz and vmk, and honestly I enjoyed vmk alot more. Webkinz was a bit too kiddyish.

[prisoner]

Except where quoting others, the following are my opinions, and my opinions only.

Originally Posted by BuzzBoy133

Well, theres no real answer to this. People have come up with ideas and such, but have not fully proven them.

I suspect the real reasons (and yes, I mean more than one) for VMKs closure are many and varied - and will likely never be completely known or understood. But I think they really come down to bad management inside Disney on many levels. VMK was badly managed, and the entire gaming division at Disney is badly managed and suffers from lack of vision and understanding of the current state of the industry.

Originally Posted by lucky33325

this is what happened: Disney made VMK with a japinese company named sulake, and sulake wasnt makin any money from it, so they disided to stop helping disney. ( webkinz isnt that popular, they were losing members to stuff like maplestory, world of warcraft, etc. ).

Sulake isn't Japanese, its Finnish. There has also been no evidence that Sulake canceled the contract - and every indication that it was Disney that either canceled it or chose not to renew it.

Webkinz not popular? I'd say I know more people who play Webkinz than Maplestory and WoW combined.

I don't think Webkinz is really a big factor, however. VMK was well positioned to tackle Webkinz at the core "gimmick" - it would have been very easy for Disney to attach secret codes to nearly all of their products to be rewarded inside VMK. It isn't clear why they didn't do this, except for management incompetence.

VMK's biggest problem was the relative sparseness of number of games. On this front, Club Penguin was better positioned, and I think this leads to a bigger clue about why VMK was ultimately terminated.

Originally Posted by Zimonada

At this point it doesn't really matter why it's closed.

Some people, myself included, think it matters a great deal why. It goes to the heart of how Disney treats its guests (ie - its customers) and how they may treat people who play their other games.

What Disney has told us is, essentially, "Don't play any of our games. We don't care about them, and we don't care about you."

[Brer_Nick]

It can't be because of Sulake because I believe SUlake is making POTCO

[cookiefairy]

Disney's being fishy, and it has nothing to do with Nemo.
I can't accept that it simply closed for no reason other than a promotion ending. Anyway, what about the Kellogg's thing? Who heard of a promotion in a promotion?

[Kitri]

It was pushes fault. I agreed once push left, vmk feel apart.

[EtnaGreen]

Originally Posted by prisoner

Except where quoting others, the following are my opinions, and my opinions only.

I suspect the real reasons (and yes, I mean more than one) for VMKs closure are many and varied - and will likely never be completely known or understood. But I think they really come down to bad management inside Disney on many levels. VMK was badly managed, and the entire gaming division at Disney is badly managed and suffers from lack of vision and understanding of the current state of the industry.



Sulake isn't Japanese, its Finnish. There has also been no evidence that Sulake canceled the contract - and every indication that it was Disney that either canceled it or chose not to renew it.

Webkinz not popular? I'd say I know more people who play Webkinz than Maplestory and WoW combined.

I don't think Webkinz is really a big factor, however. VMK was well positioned to tackle Webkinz at the core "gimmick" - it would have been very easy for Disney to attach secret codes to nearly all of their products to be rewarded inside VMK. It isn't clear why they didn't do this, except for management incompetence.

VMK's biggest problem was the relative sparseness of number of games. On this front, Club Penguin was better positioned, and I think this leads to a bigger clue about why VMK was ultimately terminated.



Some people, myself included, think it matters a great deal why. It goes to the heart of how Disney treats its guests (ie - its customers) and how they may treat people who play their other games.

What Disney has told us is, essentially, "Don't play any of our games. We don't care about them, and we don't care about you."

All I can say is wow. I've been waiting to see a mods view of the decision and it was worth the wait. I completely agree, I only wish I would have thought of some of those points you said sooner. Thank you.

I'm glad you agree with me kitri.