The creator of one of the best-loved computer games of the 21st century says he’s “confident” it’ll get to return one day in the future.
We’re talking about Club Penguin, of course.
The massively-popular multiplayer online games and activities experience – which often saw players spend hours on end navigating cartoon penguin avatars around an Antarctic-themed virtual open-world – was founded all the way back in 2005, and soon developed into a thriving online community with millions playing along.
Players could either sign-up for a free membership, or pay for a subscription that gave them access to a range of additional features – including being able to use an in-game currency to buy clothing, furniture, and pets called “puffles” for their penguins. through
At the height of its popularity, Club Penguin had 30 million registered users, and the success of the game led to parent company New Horizon being purchased by the Walt Disney Company in August 2007 for the sum of $350 million.
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Club Penguin creator says he’s ‘confident’ the game will return in the future / Credit: Disney
After Disney took over, the game became even more popular, and eventually grew to having 200 million registered user accounts worldwide in 2013.
But by 2015, user numbers started sadly declining, and the game eventually closed down in 2017.
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The reason for the game’s downfall, according to The Washington Post, was that users didn’t have to pay to play the game, and the developer relied heavily on the 10% of gamers who signed up for a membership.
Despite the decline in users, when it was announced that Club Penguin would be no more, millions of fans from all over the world shared their devastation at the closure, and can now often be heard talking about the game with a nostalgic fondness – but luckily, the game’s creator has teased that this might not be the end of the road.
Lance Priebe is “confident” the game will return one day.
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No regrets. Disney helped Club Penguin expand world wide and introduced millions of children to our exciting little world. I'm sad that it ended but I am confident it will one day return.
Responding to a fan on Twitter who asked whether he “regrets” selling the game to Disney, Club Penguin creator Lance Priebe said: “No regrets. Disney helped Club Penguin expand world wide and introduced millions of children to our exciting little world.
“I’m sad that it ended but I am confident it will one day return.”
While there is, of course, no concrete comeback plans in the works at the moment, only time will tell if Club Penguin will ever return.
All we know is, we’re not the only ones holding out hope.
Featured Image – Disney
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Stockport County defender Brad Hills ruled out for the rest of the season
Danny Jones
In a big blow to their promotion push, Stockport County have been hit with a major injury and loss to their first-team squad, as defender Brad Hills has been ruled out for what looks to be the remainder of the season and then some.
Not what Hatters will want to hear with crunch-time in and around the playoffs now well underway.
Having emerged as even more of a starring centre-back this year, following his initial loan spell with the club during the previous campaign, Brad Hills has arguably been one of Stockport’s best and most reliable players in 2025/26 thus far – but not County will have to do without him.
Although the exact severity is yet to be fully revealed, the former Norwich City youth academy graduate is said to have hurt his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
Confirming the news on social media, the Greater Manchester side stated: “We regret to inform supporters that Brad Hills sustained an ACL injury in Saturday’s draw at Luton Town that will rule him out for the foreseeable future.
“Our full focus is on supporting Brad throughout his recovery – we know he’ll come back stronger”
For anyone unaware, ACL tears/ruptures are among some of the worst injuries in football, and depending on the extent of the damage, it can take anywhere between six months and a full year to bounce back.
Safe to say, therefore, that supporters have been left gutted by the update, with one commenting, “Awful, awful news”; another simply wrote, “FFS”.
After typing a very long expletive following the show news, fan podcast The Scarf Bergara Wore wrote: “Wishing Bradley Hills a speedy recovery – come back stronger!
Since becoming a permanent signing back in August, he’s earned multiple man-of-the-match awards in blue and white, not to mention contributed to a decent number of clean sheets. He’ll be a big miss in their backline.
While it’s no doubt a big setback as the League One team looks to get promoted into the Championship, the absence could see manager Dave Challinor reshuffle the pack and perhaps even the formation for the remaining fixtures.
One option is Louie Barry, who – depending on the setup – could finally be set for a return to the pitch after he was signed on a third loan deal this past January, but is still continuing his own rehab following a knee operation.
Put it this way, with not many games left, lots of County fans are probably wishing that the pending and potential further changes in the EFL could have come sooner…
Embrace announce intimate live show in beloved Bury music venue
Danny Jones
British alternative veterans Embrace have announced another intimate show here in Greater Manchester, only this time it’s over in Bury at a stunning small-cap arts venue.
It’s not often you get to see such a long-standing band play outside of the city centre so far into their career, especially in gorgeous grassroots spaces like this one.
A fellow Northern outfit, they’ve often been lumped in with that ‘post-Britpop’ era of music, and plenty throw around the so-called ‘dad rock’ label, but honestly, we couldn’t care either way: they remain among the UK’s perennially underappreciated underdogs that never get old, as far as we’re concerned.
Revealing a handful of new live dates for their album launch this summer, they’ll be making just two appearances in the North West on the run.
Writing in the post, the group said: “We’ve lined up a run of exclusive UK dates in venues that are some of the smallest we’ve played in years. It’s going to be special, but capacity is extremely limited.”
As you can see, besides the Jacaranda Baltic in Liverpool, the only other place in this region where they’re set to play for this mini tour is The Met over in Bury.
One of the most beautiful gig spots, not just in the town but in all the 10 boroughs, for our money, the room only holds around 400 standing and roughly 250 seats.
For seasoned artists like this lot, who are more used to playing big festival stages and big domestic headline tours – which they’re also doing later this year – it’s sure to be a special night.
Toasting the release of their ninth studio LP, Avalanche, this spin-off on the tried and tested in-store format wouldn’t be possible without the help of local record store, Wax and Beans, who are promoting and hosting the show.
But we can’t lie, there’s something about the idea of seeing them decades on from when they first tightly-packed out crowds of this size.
If you want to be part of the Embrace album launch tour, you can get ready to grab your tickets at 10am this Friday, 27 March, right HERE. And speaking of great record shops…
Emily Sergeant -
15th March 2023 
