Lockdown has sparked a renaissance on Habbo and Neopets, and long-term users are delighted

Lockdown has sparked a renaissance on Habbo and Neopets, and long-term users are delighted

We reported earlier this year that it was officially the Rawring 20s, and emo and scene culture were making a comeback.

The zeitgeist appears to have shifted completely, however, after coronavirus hit the world and forced many of us into lockdown for who knows how much longer.

Half of UK companies have reportedly put some staff on furlough, and unemployment in the US has hit record highs due to mass layoffs.

But instead of credit crunch drugs or pick-me-ups in the form of fast fashion that people flocked to during the last economic downturn, there’s been a renaissance of online community games like Habbo and Neopets.




These particular games were both created in 1999, and will likely be something of a fond memory for most late Gen Xers and millennials.

Habbo – formerly Habbo Hotel – is a virtual community where users create a character and can enter various rooms to interact with others, playing mini-games and buying ‘furni’ to decorate their own spaces.

Neopets allows users to have their own virtual pet, buy items for it, chat with others on discussion boards, and join guilds to play with a group. It also has an in-game stock exchange called the NEODAQ for players to buy and sell items.

Many may remember games of ‘falling furni’ on Habbo or ‘cheeseroller’ on Neopets, and think of it fondly – but strictly as a memory.

Some users, though, played through the glory days of early social networks (Instagram wasn’t even around, and Facebook was but a twinkle in Zuckerberg’s eye) and have trudged on, collecting credits and cheeses to barter their way to new outfits and items.

Deactivate, 28, is one such player, and has been on Habbo since 2006, with seven of these 14 years as an active member.

He tells Metro.co.uk that for him, ‘it is a nice way to unwind and chill after a long day at work. Chilling and chatting to friends, playing user-made games, building, wiring unique games such as puzzle and challenging games.’

‘For me,’ says Deactivate, ‘Habbo is an escape from reality.’

22-year-old Madison is a veteran Neopets player, having been on and off the site since 2005.

Her account turned 15 this month, and she says that playing is a callback to her childhood, much of which was spent on Neopets.

‘Neopets was a big part of my childhood and it’s cool to me to be able to go back and accomplish all the goals younger me had but didn’t know how to do,’ Madison told Metro.co.uk.

‘My enjoyment of the game is very nostalgia fueled.’

Nostalgia and a desire to find some form of release from the harsh reality currently unfolding is a boon for sites like these, with new and returning users heading to lighthearted games such as Habbo and Neopets.

Although Sulake – who owns Habbo – and Neopets’ current owners JumpStart Games did not respond to our requests for exact numbers of players, those who have been active for decades are reporting that the lockdowns have sparked rapid growth in player numbers.



Scott, who’s 24 and has been playing Neopets for 14 years, says he’s seen a change in the number of people playing since many countries introduced lockdown measures over the last few months and weeks, telling Metro.co.uk that this is obvious ‘specifically on the pet trading boards and in the user-run stores.’

Madison echoes this, saying, ‘I have noticed an influx of returning users and some new ones. Both on the site and on Neopet related pages, like the subreddit.

‘So many people post on the Neoboards about self-isolation and how it’s affecting them.’

Threads on Reddit and tweets confirm this, with swathes of people saying they’ve returned to games they loved in childhood as a stress reliever.

Animal Crossing New Horizons was released this April and has smashed sales records for Nintendo, with games journalists hinting that the COVID-19 lockdown and the low-pressure, cutesy game environment contributed to its success.

Similarly, recreations of online community game Club Penguin (which began in 2005 and closed in 2017) have reported record numbers of users. One of these – Club Penguin Online – even had to update their servers to cope with the influx.

A review of research by the American Psychological Association found that multiplayer games that encourage co-operation, boost mood, and even ward off anxiety in children.

Perhaps with the stress of the current situation, gamers are returning to the distractions that had these effects on them many years ago.

Vado, who’s been playing Habbo for over 15 years, says: ‘It’s like a hit of nostalgia came across many old players, and now that they are in isolation they are re-visiting the game, as for many young adults, this game was their entire childhood.’


Far from the sense of gatekeeping that may be associated with some sects of gamer culture, the players on Habbo and Neopets that we spoke to are delighted that people are joining or rejoining.

Because MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, which Habbo and Neopets are classed as) rely on participation to stay running, it’s boosted infrastructure that they felt had been declining over the years.

Safety on Habbo and Neopets Players on Neopets are able to play at any age, but those under 13 must do so with permission from a parent or guardian. Only those aged 13 and above can participate on the Neoboards, which are filtered for profanity. The age limit for Habbo players is 13, and the site has a team of moderators who are always online. All conversations in the hotel are filtered before they appear on the screen. The systems filters out obscene, offensive, racist and sexist terms and phrases and other words that are unacceptable for minors.

Scott said: ‘Overall it’s a good change because Neopets hasn’t exactly been its most active the past few years.

‘The in-game economy definitely needed the boost because one of the pastimes of Neopets, restocking, is pointless without other users buying your items!’

He says that ever since an event nicknamed the Neopocalypse, the game has been something of a ghost town.

Back in 2015, not long after JumpStart bought the game, Scott says, ‘much-loved parts of the site stopped working and were never put back online (keyquest and Habitarium for example).

‘Then, the moderation filters went down. Neopets has VERY strict moderation (you can’t even type “basement” because it has “semen” in it) and suddenly people could say whatever they wanted.

‘The Neoboards were suddenly filled with cursing, outside links, and every variety of inappropriate joke.

‘A lot of already frustrated users basically sacrificed their accounts to make a joke, as the biggest offenders were slowly getting frozen.’

After that membership dropped off due to account freezes, and features that were disabled back then weren’t reinstated causing others to gradually leave too.


This tide of new users could mean developers have the impetus to revitalise things that haven’t had attention since the ‘glory days’.

‘I feel like everyone who has been playing Neopets for a while is always excited when there is a surge of new or returning players,’ said Madison.

‘The website hasn’t really changed too much in years, so myself and other hopeful players are crossing our fingers that the new members kind of pushes The Neopets Team into revitalizing the website in some ways.

‘With flash expiring at the end of this year, so much of the website needs to be converted to HTML5 or else it just won’t work.

‘I guess my happiness is one part glad more people are on the site and one part ulterior motive that it’ll make the website want to improve.’

That doesn’t mean that new users have carte blanche to fill their days on the sites without honouring the established systems long-term players have put in place.

Deactivate says ‘the more players the better’, but ‘as long as they are following the Habbo way and are actually over 15 years old’ (the official age requirement for Habbo players is 13 and over).

He says: ‘The game will help a lot of people who are in self-isolation to communicate with other people.’

It can’t be overstated how useful applications like Houseparty and Zoom have been in terms of helping people connect while they can’t do so in person.

But for those who don’t necessarily have a group to pub quiz and watch party with via video, games like Neopets and Habbo are a lifeline for interaction

Meredith, 24, has been playing Neopets since 2004 on and off. She says: ‘For me, what makes Neopets continue to hold my interest is to see the different ways the player base interpret and interact with the content that has built up over the years and continues to get added to on occasion.

‘I love the creative community Neopets inspires, and seeing more people actively participating in it makes me happy, even though the circumstances are unfortunate.’

Do you have a story to share? Get in touch at MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk.

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