What’s in store for Poptropica’s future?

As 2020 draws to a close, we are dreadfully awaiting the end of an era on the internet: the Flash shutdown.

This event will drastically change the internet at large with countless Flash games being rendered unplayable. Not wanting Poptropica to become lost to time, the Creators have been hard at work moving the game to a new platform and preserving it for (hopefully) more years to come. Now to answer the burning question: “What’s in store for Poptropica’s future?”

Players may have seen a new pop-up appear when they boot up the Flash version of the game. This pop-up, along with a more detailed Creators’ Blog post, lets players know what’s going to happen to the game in the coming days.

On December 28, Poptropica will officially make the switch to Haxe as its sole platform. Players don’t need to worry about their years-old accounts being lost to time. The Creators assured players that existing Flash accounts will make a smooth transition to Haxe. You still get to keep your username, inventory, medallions, friends, and more!

What about the islands that have yet to be converted? While the Creators are still converting all of the islands, they are also working to make the old Flash version of Poptropica accessible to players! Sounds crazy, right? Here’s what they said regarding the matter:

For those of you who are members and are playing the Early Poptropica islands – this will stay on the map and can be accessed in the newest version of the game. We’ll keep this access up for as long as possible and recommend not updating your browsers! Newer versions of browsers are starting to block Flash which will keep you from being able to access these. 

To summarize, members will still be able to play the classic islands as long as they don’t update their browsers. While we understand why the Creators say not to update browsers as it’s the only readily available way to access the classic islands, there are some notable flaws with this approach.

First, not updating your browser can leave your computer vulnerable to performance issues and security flaws, which is one of the big reasons why Flash is being retired. Second, some browsers automatically update without the users’ knowledge. Some browsers like Chrome have been warning users that Flash is going away after 2020, so it’s unlikely that such browsers will be supporting the classic islands after this year.

Although it’s uncertain if these classic islands will be accessible for long, their memories will live on in the hearts and minds of players. If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can watch playthroughs on Youtube or read our island help walkthroughs right here on the PHB.

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Man, that was a lot to take in. There shouldn’t be too much left to cover, right? Right?

Anyway, a new item rotation has graced the Poptropica store. Players can buy classic and contemporary items to customize their avatars. A few holiday-themed items such as Tangled In Lights and Snowman also arrived just in time for Christmas. 🎄

The Creators didn’t want pets to be left out of the fashion fun, so the pet store also saw a new rotation of items. There a lot of accessories that we have seen before, though the Blue Sunglasses may be new.

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Now let’s take a moment to highlight some awesome stuff from fans. Our most recent fan art features come from Instagram artists quria.kressly, birdswithshoes, and grandmother_duck. We also got a Poptropica merch feature from an unknown fan who bought a Binary Bard phone case.

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Our “Video of the Week” comes to us from Zany Ice, who created a walkthrough video for the new Wolfwalkers ad game. I recommend playing the game if you haven’t already; it’s one of my favorite Pop ads from this year.

Aaand now I’ve covered everything! Phew!

How do you guys feel about the upcoming move to Haxe? Nervous? Excited? Nervouscited? Feel free to discuss with others in the comment section below. Though Poptropica’s future is uncertain, we can come together as a community and face the new changes ahead.

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬