As we continue to wait on news for the porting of old islands and the imagined futures of Fairytale Island, the Pop Creators made an announcement regarding a new Costume Design Contest.
This event has been held a couple times in the past, but now, a new contest will be held every month! According to the Creators’ Blog, the contest will be open for two weeks each time, so the current one closes June 7 at 8 pm PST.
If this continues, plenty of fans should have the chance to see their designs become a virtual reality! Unlike past versions of this event, no prizes (such as membership) were mentioned, other than having winning costume designs implemented into the game. Good luck to all!
Lightning Wielder by bianca_donka – costume design contest winner (2020) 
Mermaid by Creepy Peanut and Hip Hop by Speedy Toes – Poptropica Worlds costume design contest winners (2017)
Continuing with the subject of fan art, Poptropica shared six new Instagram stories today. But there’s something a little odd…
Mademoiselle Moreau with Raven and Shy Moon (OC) by @pinklightningmc 
Black Widow as Paintbrush by @a.jbox 
Lady Dimitrescu (from Resident Evil) by @arts.n.darts 
Pop Swap AU – Black Widow as Dr. Hare by @arts.n.darts 
My Popsona: Shy Moon by @pinklightningmc 
Non-Poptropican original character by @arts.n.darts
Look closely and you’ll find that two of these pieces are not Poptropica related—with one being a non-Pop original character, and the other being fan art of a character from the game Resident Evil, which does not exactly share Poptropica’s demographic. They are done by arts.n.darts, the same artist who also recently made fan art of Betty Jetty that the Pop Creators did not recognize.
While it would be admirable if this is simply an effort to show more support towards artists who have previously made Poptropica fan art, the shares are nevertheless uncharacteristic, and also raises the question of whether Poptropica’s social media person (or people?) is once again unaware of Poptropica’s content. Sus?
On a final note, a couple changes appear to have happened to the ads that appear on the website and in-game.
From past observations, most ads on Poptropica are specifically targeted towards its younger audience, similar to how they are sponsored to make in-game advertisements that showcase books, toys, or movies and shows that its general demographic may enjoy.
However, lately the ads appear to be more random and not exactly geared for kids. PHB staffer Gentle Dolphin reported seeing ads for Honey, which is a browser extension for online shopping, as well as for Morgan & Morgan, an injury law firm.
It’s understandable that a game needs to make a profit to survive, but this does raise some suspicion towards Poptropica’s insistence that they are still getting a large amount (“over a million”) of players. Why would they need to accept more advertisements if that was the case? The COVID-19 pandemic has had an effect on businesses, but as an online game, has Poptropica been growing or shrinking in attention? The branching out on ads seems to suggest the latter.
As of now, fans have many questions, many of which we may not see answers to soon. Hopefully we can still have fun while we wait with contests, upcoming quests, and the next Dream Island!
Castori honorem ~ Maryann/Smart Bubbles
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