Virtual pet website Neopets plans $4m comeback

Virtual favored website Neopets is readying a comeback.

Launched successful 1999 by British developers, the tract fto users attraction for cartoon pets, chat and play games.

But aft Viacom bought it, for $160m (£122m) successful 2005, the tract failed to support up with the times and galore elements stopped working.

Now, Neopets is promising a "new era", with $4m of backing to remake the tract and bring backmost 50 classical games connected 25 July.

At its peak, successful the mid-2000s, Neopets had 25 cardinal users, rivalling the popularity of Tamagotchis and different virtual pets.

In a way, Neopets was an aboriginal signifier of societal media, encouraging assemblage speech agelong earlier Facebook and Twitter existed - but overmuch of the website relied connected Adobe Flash.

Modern browsers do not enactment Flash astatine all. And Apple ne'er supported the exertion connected its iPhones oregon iPads.

But volition the committedness of caller backing and functionality tempt radical to instrumentality to their neglected pets?

Krista, a instrumentality who runs the YouTube transmission Neopian Lore, is apprehensively excited.

"We person gotten announcements successful the past and they haven't followed through," she says.

"But I'm astir excited for the conversion of games. That has been thing the assemblage has been asking for for a while.

"It's the happening that draws you backmost - you tin spell and play a crippled for 2 minutes and past transportation connected with your beingness - it's a bully diagnostic to return."

Neopets said a absorption buyout woody meant the website was present an autarkic concern without a ample firm owner.

"Free from the firm baggage that existed successful the past, the recently agreed [Neopets Team] has present been entrusted with the decision-making and wide marque strategy of Neopets, enabling them to enactment solely connected the betterment of the full Neopets crippled and community," it said successful a blog post.

"The Neopets Team is, for the archetypal clip successful implicit a decade, equipped to marque meaningful changes successful pursuit of a Neopian renaissance."

It plans to statesman the "new era" with a refreshed homepage, connected Thursday, 20 July.

Five days later, it volition bring backmost 50 of the website's classical games amid plans to hole "many of the astir beloved games" successful the future.

And Krista believes a resurgence is possible.

"It's not going to beryllium a clump of middle-schoolers anymore, though determination inactive volition beryllium be immoderate younger kids," she says.

"People privation nostalgia. People privation to spell reminisce astir the glory days. That's wherefore there's truthful galore reboots successful the satellite - bringing backmost those nostalgic features that are similar comfortableness nutrient for people.

"I'm truly excited for it."