'Club Penguin Rewritten' Shut Down by Disney

After the popular multiplayer online game Club Penguin was shut down in 2018, and its official successor, Club Penguin Island, was discontinued the following year, a fan remake of the original game titled Club Penguin Rewritten continued to live on as a private server for original enthusiasts to load in as penguin avatars in the Antarctica-themed open world.

However, after four years of operation, the London police have now seized control of the site after Disney decided to take legal action for copyright reasons.

“Following a complaint under copyright law, PIPCU have seized a gaming website as part of an ongoing investigation into the site,” Detective Constable Daryl Fryatt from the IP crime unit said in a statement. “Three people were arrested on April 12 on suspicion of distributing materials infringing copyright and searches were carried out. They have been released under investigation and to aid with the police investigation, they agreed to sign over the website to the control of PIPCU.”

Club Penguin Rewritten experienced a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and the game reported over 11 million registered users before it was taken down on April 13, 2022.

Club penguin rewritten is dead 😔 pic.twitter.com/6rviPDyxmf

— 𝕰𝖑𝖎𝖟𝖆𝖇𝖊𝖙𝖍 (@COSMOSAZTEC1) April 13, 2022

Elsewhere in gaming, the original Mario Golf is set to arrive on Nintendo Switch.