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Library/Game/Club Penguin
Grade B21 sourcesHIS-01322

Club Penguin

Game · 2005 · Viral

61Editable slideCertificate

A penguin world spread through referrals before Disney paid about $350 million upfront.

Official illustrated map of the Club Penguin island
RocketSnail / Disney
A hand of Club Penguin Card-Jitsu cards
B3251 / Wikimedia Commons
Club Penguin art of penguins at a night celebration
RocketSnail / Lance Priebe
Penguins duel with lightsabers in the Star Wars takeover
Variety
A penguin surrounded by puffles, the game's pets
AllThingsD / The Wall Street Journal
Penguins at a Club Penguin party
The Hollywood Reporter
Two penguins in the decorated town center
Laughing Place
Club Penguin's banned-forever screen
PC Gamer
Club Penguin's shutdown message: Waddle on!
BuzzFeed Community

Spread Score

How it works
Reach60Contagion65Breadth60VelocityNo data yetLongevityNo data yet61

Numbers

December 2007 US unique audience; source is in thousands
6.4M
As of Dec 31, 2007 · Open web · MediaPost
Milestone date
By end of Dec 2007
Aug 22 ’05 to By end of Dec 2007
Platforms
4
Started on Open web
Origin
Seeded
Gaming

Mechanics

  • Platform jumpPrimary
  • Press loop
  • Dupe economy

How it spread

Trace the origin

Club Penguin grew through friends and a Miniclip placement before Disney bought it. Nielsen's December 2007 audience is the milestone shown here. Ban videos reached YouTube; after the official shutdown, private servers drew returning students.

Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak. Dates use the stated precision; chart positions are date anchors.

Google searchesDec ’04Nov ’05Oct ’06Nov ’07Jun ’10Jul ’13Aug ’14May ’16Jul ’17Oct ’19Apr ’21MilestoneOpen webPressApp storesYouTube
Open webPressApp storesYouTube

12 more events on this chart

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Timeline (15)

  1. August 2005

    New Horizon Interactive seed · Aug 22 ’05

    The team opened Club Penguin's beta to testers and accepted further signups.[1][2]

    Open the first post ↗

  2. October 2005

    New Horizon Interactive owner response · Oct 24 ’05

    New Horizon Interactive officially launched Club Penguin.[2]

  3. March 2006

    Miniclip platform jump · Mar 2006

    Club Penguin launched on Miniclip.[3]

    Club Penguin art of penguins at a night celebration

  1. press · Nov 13 ’06

  2. commercial · Aug 1 ’07

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Why it worked

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Origin
Seeded
Sector
Gaming
Region
CA
December 2007 US unique audience; source is in thousands
6.4M
As of Dec 31, 2007 · Open web · MediaPost
Evidence
Grade B

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