It’s set to be a great year for Neopets as the team behind everyone’s favourite childhood browser game has announced a resurgence of the beloved brand. Not only is Neopets currently in the beta phase of a full and completely mobile-friendly app version of the site, but there’s also a television series in the works, along with a whole new range of toys.
During a press conference for Licensing Week Virtual, JumpStart’s President and CEO, Jim Czulewicz spoke about the plans for the Neopets brand, and just how much we can expect in the next year or so.
“We’re hoping that by the end of the year we’ll have some plush out, which is something that our community and audience has been asking for for a long time. And we’re working with some other partners on some other items as well, trading cards for instance, some digital merchandise, as far as toy lines,” said Czulewicz.
Along with new toys, the Neopets television series has also been confirmed to be coming in 2021. The animated show comes from Beach House Pictures, a Blue Ant Studios company, and JumpStart.
When asked how the Neopets TV series will appeal to both younger audiences and people (like me) who grew up playing Neopets, Czulewicz said:
“Our goal through the writing and some of the scripts we’ve already looked at is to actually make it so that it can attract a new audience or a young audience, as well as keep some of the lore and storylines that the older audience wants to see as well.
“Neopets has always been a family-friendly storyline. Good…evil…lots of bright colours and everything, so we actually think we can combine the two without moving away from either one group.”
It doesn’t end there though. Czulewicz admitted that the company is also looking into animated shorts which may touch on some of the stories told in Neopia over the years.
“We are looking at doing shorts as well, so 2-3 minute shorts as well which we can tie back into the storyline,” said Czulewicz.
“We can do a lot more now than we could have done back then, and a lot of those stories [like Hannah and the Pirates], are actually great stories for us to incorporate into the TV show so it’s one of the things that the writers are looking at. How we can do small pieces that drive into the bigger story arcs as well.”
If all this nostalgia has got you aching to get back to your Kacheek, you can sign up for the mobile beta of the full site right now. More content is being added to the new app weekly, with plans to have 90 per cent of the full Neopets experience in the palm of your hand by Fall 2020.
Featured Image Credit: JumpStart