Editing Neopets (section)

==History and development==

=== Creation and growth (1999–2005) ===
''Neopets'' was conceived in 1997 by [[Adam Powell (game designer)|Adam Powell]], a [[British people|British]] student at the [[University of Nottingham]] at the time. He shared this idea with [[Donna Powell|Donna Williams]] and the two started work on the site in September 1999, with Powell responsible for the programming and the database and Williams the web design and art. Their original office was located in [[Guildford]].<ref name="NT52" /> With the help of two friends, the site launched on 15 November 1999.<ref name="about" /><ref name="Trahan" /><ref name="Klotz" /> Powell stated that the original goal was to "keep university students entertained, and possibly make some cash from banner advertising".<ref name="Headon" /> The site contained [[popular culture]] references, such as a Neopet that was simply a picture of entertainer [[Bruce Forsyth]], and another that was a cartoon version of singer [[Macy Gray]].<ref name="Kushner" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-04-10 |title=15 Things You Forgot About Neopets |url=https://screenrant.com/neopets-trivia-facts-secrets-you-forgot/ |access-date=2023-08-22 |website=ScreenRant |language=en}}</ref>

The user base grew by [[word of mouth]] and by [[Christmas]] 1999, ''Neopets'' was logging 600,000 [[page view]]s daily and sought investors to cover the high cost of running the site. Later in the month, [[Americans|American]] businessman [[Doug Dohring]] was introduced to the creators of the site and, along with other investors, bought a majority share in January of the following year.<ref name="Weintraub" /> Neopets, Inc. was incorporated by Dohring in February 2000, and began business on 28 April. Dohring used [[Scientology]]'s Org Board to manage the company.<ref name="Kushner" /><ref name="Bellman" /> Powell and Williams were unaware of the Scientology connections until searching the employees at the newly formed company six months later but did not address this until the company hired a woman to introduce Scientology to ''Neopets''. Powell and Williams stopped the addition of any Scientology education to ''Neopets'' and ensured such content never made it into anything site-related.<ref name="Bellman" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/neopets/comments/26fwhh/i_am_donna_one_of_the_founders_of_neopets_ask_me/chqqpbo?context=3 |title=I am Donna, one of the founders of Neopets, ask me anything... |last=Williams |first=Donna |publisher=reddit |date=2014-05-25 |website=Reddit |access-date=2021-04-17 |archive-date=4 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104072327/https://www.reddit.com/r/neopets/comments/26fwhh/i_am_donna_one_of_the_founders_of_neopets_ask_me/chqqpbo/?context=3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

With the new company, [[intellectual property]] that did not belong to ''Neopets'' was removed but the site kept the [[American and British English spelling differences|British spellings]].<ref name="Kushner" /> The website made money from the first paying customers using an advertising method trademarked as "[[#Immersive advertising|immersive advertising]]".<ref name="Weintraub"/><ref name="immersive" /> In 2004, ''Neopets'' released a premium version and started showing advertisements on the basic site that were not shown to premium members.<ref name="González" />

In the 2000s, ''Neopets'' was consistently noted as one of the "[[sticky content|stickiest]]" sites for children's entertainment. A press release from ''Neopets'' in 2001 stated that Neopets.com led in site "stickiness" in May and June, with the average user spending 117&nbsp;minutes a week.<ref name="yahoo4" /> ''Neopets'' also led in the average number of hours spent per user per month in December 2003 with an average of 4 hours and 47&nbsp;minutes.<ref name="Myers" /> A 2004 article stated that [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen//NetRatings]] reported that people were spending around three hours a month on ''Neopets'', more than any other site in its Nielsen category.<ref name="Eckstein" /> By May 2005, a ''Neopets''-affiliated video game producer cited about 35 million unique users, 11 million unique IP addresses per month, and 4 billion web page views per month. This producer also described 20% of the users as 18 or older, with the median of the remaining 80% at about 14.<ref name="Gamespot" />

=== Viacom (2005–2014) ===
[[Viacom (2005–2019)|Viacom]], the American conglomerate that owns [[Nickelodeon]], purchased Neopets, Inc. on 20 June 2005 for $160 million and announced plans to focus more on the use of [[banner ad]]s over the site's existing immersive advertising.<ref name="Viacom" /><ref name="Myerhoff" /> Founders Powell and Williams left Neopets, Inc. shortly after the purchase due to creative differences.<ref name="Bellman" /> The following year, a gaming event called The Altador Cup was released to improve interactivity between users and to coincide with the [[2006 FIFA World Cup]]; it had 10.4 million participants in its first year.<ref name="Minishow" /><ref name="Altador Cup" /> 2006 also saw the release of ''Neopets Mobile'', a [[T-Mobile US|T-Mobile]] exclusive premium service which allowed users to visit the new land of Lutari Island. The service was discontinued on 30 June 2009, leaving the island completely inaccessible.<ref>{{cite web |title=Neopets Mobile - Jellyneo.net |url=http://www.jellyneo.net/?go=mobile |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716111956/http://www.jellyneo.net/?go=mobile |archive-date=16 July 2018 |access-date=16 July 2018 |website=www.jellyneo.net}}</ref> ''Neopets'' was consistently ranked among the top ten "stickiest" sites by both Nielsen//NetRatings and [[comScore|comScore Media Metrix]] in 2005 and 2006.<ref name="dmwmedia" /><ref name="Gaudiosi" />

The game website was redesigned on 27 April 2007 and included changes to the user interface and the ability to customise Neopets.<ref name="nf070423" /> In June, Viacom promoted ''Neopets'' through [[interstitial program|minishows]] on its Nickelodeon channel. Promotions included the second Altador Cup and led to an increase in traffic through the site.<ref name="González" /> However, according to Nielsen//NetRatings, in 2007, ''Neopets'' lost about 15% of its audience over the previous year.<ref name="mediaweek" /> On 17 July, the NC Mall was launched in a partnership with Korean gaming company [[Nexon Corporation]]. It allows users to use real money to purchase Neocash to buy exclusive virtual items.<ref name="Nexon" /> In February 2008, comScore ranked it as the stickiest kids entertainment site with the average user spending 2 hours and 45&nbsp;minutes per month.<ref name="prnewswire" /> On 17 June 2008, Viacom formed the [[Nickelodeon Kids & Family Virtual Worlds Group]] to "encompass all paid and subscription gaming initiatives across all relevant platforms", including ''Neopets''.<ref name="Nick Kids" /> By June 2011, ''Neopets'' announced that the website had logged 1 trillion page views since its creation.<ref name="nf110613" />

=== JumpStart and NetDragon (2014–2023) ===
[[JumpStart Games]] acquired the Neopets property from [[Viacom (2005–2019)|Viacom]] in March 2014.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.neopets.com/nf.phtml?nf_date=2014-03-17#js | title = New Features - 18th March - Illusen Day | date = 2014-03-18 | website = Neopets.com | publisher = | access-date = 2021-04-15 | quote = }}</ref> Server migration began in September. JumpStart-owned Neopets was immediately characterized by glitches and site lag.<ref name="Perez" /> On 6 March 2015, much of the Neopets Team remaining from Viacom were laid off. Then-CEO of JumpStart David Lord assured the community that there were no plans to shut down Neopets, and instead resources were allocated to develop new "events and stories" and address site stability and overall performance on [[mobile game|mobile platforms]], with plans to expand to additional platforms including [[Facebook]].<ref name="Kiberd" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=10057|title=Jellyneo.net - Neopets Help, Neopets Guides, and Neopets News!|website=www.jellyneo.net|access-date=16 January 2017|archive-date=18 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118032516/http://www.jellyneo.net/index.php?comments=10057|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the weekend of 27–28 June 2015, the site's [[word filter|chat filters]] stopped working. The site's forums were flooded with age-inappropriate messages.<ref name="Coy" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/neopets-community-melts-down-eat-my-ho-butt-1714610137|title=Neopets Community Melts Down: "Eat My Ho Butt." [Update]|first=Brian|last=Ashcraft|website=Kotaku|date=29 June 2015|access-date=15 June 2019|archive-date=30 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430001033/https://kotaku.com/neopets-community-melts-down-eat-my-ho-butt-1714610137|url-status=live}}</ref> In a statement on [[Facebook]], JumpStart apologized, explaining that the issue was due to a "facility move," and that during that move, the moderation team was not able to access the Neopets community.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/Neopets/posts/10153297122846005 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/facebook/348470121004/10153297122846005 |archive-date=2022-02-26 |url-access=limited|title=Neopets|website=Facebook}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In January 2017, Neopets then-JumpStart CEO David Lord estimated 100,000 active daily users.<ref name="Yeo" /> On 3 July 2017, Chinese company [[NetDragon Websoft|NetDragon]] acquired JumpStart Games.<ref>{{Cite press release|url=http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/netdragon-acquires-jumpstart-to-expand-its-online-communities-300483164.html|title=NetDragon Acquires JumpStart to Expand Its Online Communities|author=NetDragon Websoft Holdings|website=PR Newswire|access-date=2017-07-07}}</ref> The Neopets team started developing in-universe plots again in 2017 for the first time since the JumpStart acquisition,<ref name="Perez" /> with the first such event going live in late 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://bookofages.jellyneo.net/events/wraith-resurgence/ |title=The Wraith Resurgence |website=Jellyneo |date=28 January 2021 |access-date=29 July 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713051225/https://bookofages.jellyneo.net/events/wraith-resurgence/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2020, Neopets logged 3.4 million views per month, a significant decline from its peak.<ref name="Perez" /> With support for [[Adobe Flash]] ending in 2020, the Neopets Team announced in 2019 that it planned to transition Flash elements of the site to [[HTML5]] by the end of 2020.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Leah |title=Neopets is in Danger Of Shutting Down in 2020 [Updated] |url=https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/10/neopets-flash-player-migration-shut-down-2020/ |website=Gizmodo Australia |date=29 October 2020 |access-date=30 January 2021 |archive-date=12 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210212064157/https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/10/neopets-flash-player-migration-shut-down-2020/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The team prioritized converting popular features, and some parts of the site were left non-functional when Flash support ended.<ref name="FavisLiao" /> The Neopets Team also announced the development of a mobile app for the site, which was later scrapped in favor of a "mobile-friendly" browser version of the site which launched via an open beta on 9 June 2020.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hart |first1=Sarah Grace |date=2020-06-10 |url=https://nerdist.com/article/neopets-mobile-site-launches/ |title=NEOPETS Prepares for a Mobile Comeback |website=Nerdist |access-date=2023-07-29 |archive-date=2022-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220101751/https://nerdist.com/article/neopets-mobile-site-launches/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Asarch |first=Steven |date=2018-12-27 |title=New Neopets mobile app will replace website in summer 2019 |url=https://www.newsweek.com/neopets-mobile-app-legends-and-letters-1273051 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904224034/https://www.newsweek.com/neopets-mobile-app-legends-and-letters-1273051 |archive-date=4 September 2019 |access-date=2019-09-04 |website=Newsweek}}</ref> In June 2020, JumpStart CEO Jim Czulewicz estimated Neopets had 100,000 daily active users and 1.5 million monthly active players.<ref name="Liao" />

On 13 June 2023, JumpStart announced it would be closing on 30 June.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jellyneo.net {{!}} Neopets Help, Neopets Guides, and Neopets News! |url=https://www.jellyneo.net/?comments=14351 |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=www.jellyneo.net |archive-date=14 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230614191502/https://www.jellyneo.net/?comments=14351 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Metaverse ====
On 22 September 2021, the Neopets Metaverse [[NFT]] project was announced in collaboration with [[JumpStart]], Cherrypicks, Raydium, and Moonvault.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://moonvaultpartners.com/strategy |title=Moonvault Partners |access-date=2023-07-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cherrypicks.com/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |website=Cherrypicks |title=Cherrypicks   A regional Mobile Technology and Mobile eCommerce leader specializing in smart city, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, eWallet and location intelligence |archive-date=2021-11-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123093625/https://www.cherrypicks.com/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Neopets Metaverse was to feature a "modernised 3D remake of the classic Neopets game" where players would be required to own Neopets NFTs to play.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Neopets Metaverse {{!}} Legendary Virtual Pet Game |url=https://www.neopetsmeta.io/ |access-date=2023-07-31 |language=en-US}}</ref> Prior to the official launch of the metaverse, the project put 20,000 Neopets NFTs up for sale but only 4,225 were purchased.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Suaya |first=Stacy |date=2023-02-22 |title=Neopets: Boulevard of Broken Childhood Dreams|url=https://superrare.com/magazine/2023/02/22/neopets-boulevard-of-broken-childhood-dreams/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=www.superrare.com |language=en}}</ref> A unique visual glitch revealed that at least one of the promotional images on the Neopets Metaverse website advertising these NFTs was generated using the Neopets fan site Dress to Impress; the image was replaced shortly after it was noticed.<ref name=":1" /> The project received a significant amount of criticism from within the Neopets community and it was formally canceled in July 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jiang |first=Sisi |date=2021-09-28 |title=How Dare Neopets Taint My Childhood With NFTs |url=https://kotaku.com/how-dare-neopets-taint-my-childhood-with-nfts-1847762677 |access-date=2021-10-14 |website=Kotaku |archive-date=6 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006152851/https://kotaku.com/how-dare-neopets-taint-my-childhood-with-nfts-1847762677 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Carpenter |first=Nicole |date=2021-10-12 |title=Neopets players are finally united: 'No Neopets NFTs' |url=https://www.polygon.com/22722915/neopets-nft-controversy-noneonfts-metaverse |access-date=2021-10-14 |website=Polygon |archive-date=13 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211013080109/https://www.polygon.com/22722915/neopets-nft-controversy-noneonfts-metaverse |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== World of Neopia (2023–present) ===

On 17 July 2023, it was announced that Neopets had been purchased from NetDragon through a management buyout deal led by Neopets Chief Metaverse Officer Dominic Law, the former Director of New Markets at both NetDragon and Cherrypicks.<ref name="AWSHK2022">{{cite web |url=https://aws.amazon.com/tw/events/industry-week-hk/ |access-date=2023-07-29 |title=AWS Industry Week Hong Kong 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313021403/https://aws.amazon.com/tw/events/industry-week-hk/ |archive-date=2022-03-13 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The resulting independent company, World of Neopia Inc., is composed of team members from both Neopets and Neopets Metaverse, including Dominic Law as CEO.  It was also stated that the site had operated at a loss for over a decade and it announced that Neopets had received $4 million in investment funding in early 2023. Additional funding from the management buyout is said to equip World of Neopia, Inc. to make "meaningful changes in pursuit of a Neopian renaissance."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://medium.com/@neopetsofficial/a-new-era-for-neopets-fdb5c9ac187e |title=A New Era for Neopets! |access-date = 2023-07-17 |date=2023-07-17 |work=[[Medium (website)|Medium]]}}</ref> The changes include a homepage revamp and plans to create a mobile app.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Saunders |first=Angel |date=20 July 2023 |title='A New Era' of Neopets is Officially Here as Brand Announces New Leadership Team |url=https://people.com/neopets-launches-new-era-website-7563280 |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}}</ref> Following the transition, it was reported that the site achieved its highest revenue stream in 2023 since 2017 (which was the same year Netdragon acquired Jumpstart), and had tripled its monthly active userbase from 100,000 to 300,000 users by April 2024. Dominic Law also claimed that the company was on track to be profitable by the end of 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=mafia97 |date=2024-02-28 |title=Legendary Virtual Pet Game Neopets Announces Record-breaking 2023 Business Results: MAU Surges 100%, Revenue Reaches New Peak Since 2017 |url=https://www.hgunified.com/home/legendary-virtual-pet-game-neopets-announces-record-breaking-2023-business-results-mau-surges-100-revenue-reaches-new-peak-since-2017.html |access-date=2024-02-29 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Paul |first=Kari |date=2024-04-14 |title=How Neopets’ nostalgic revival tripled users in six months |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/apr/14/neopets-revival-millennial-gaming-nostalgia |access-date=2024-07-01 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> It was also reported that the site demographics had shifted to be significantly older compared to when the website was at its peak, with the majority of users now being over the age of 18 with 40% being reported to between the ages of 25 and 34, and 26% of users being between the ages of 18 and 24, which was reportedly due to many users of the site now being drawn to use Neopets due to [[nostalgia]] reasons.<ref name=":3" />