Hey Poptropicans! It’s been a minute since we’ve conversed with the Poptropica Creators, and with Poptropica’s recent move to Coolmath Games and focus on the Roblox studio Suit Up Games, we wanted to take a deeper dive into how these shifts happened.
So we reached out to someone who’s been involved with the game since its early days and continues to work on both Pop and its spin-off Roblox studio today—Jonathan Pitcher, Art Director at Poptropica and Suit Up Games—for an interview. Happily, he obliged, and below is our Q&A!
PHB: What’s your current role with Poptropica / Suit Up Games?
Jon: I get to wear several hats here. Many others do as well.
Poptropica: My title is Art Director, but my main role is a director for branded games for our clients like Disney, Sony, Paramount, etc. When we create new content for Poptropica like islands, I work as an artist with our amazing team of artists and developers.
Suit Up Games: I’m happily animating. This is what I love best. I help lead the efforts for our animators. I’m responsible, with others on our team, for creating the animations for our Roblox games. I also help build character rigs and work with some of our newer artists as a manager.
PHB: What’s been your history with Poptropica?
Jon: 2009: I was hired to create our branded games. Some remember that as a Poptropica Creator I was known as Master Mime. During these years I also assisted with the art for island creation. I helped lead the animations and created new content for the store.
2011: I became the advertising director. In this role I managed the team of artists and developers that created branded games for Poptropica.
2017: I became an art director. As I continued to direct the branded game projects some of my focus shifted to helping create new islands and managing the Poptropica store.
2022: We started Suit Up Games. My focus moved to character animation for our Roblox Games. During this time, I’ve continued to direct and create branded games for Poptropica.
PHB: Poptropica is now with Coolmath Games and it’s been announced that there are no plans to update it with more content, new or old. Meanwhile, the spin-off Roblox studio Suit Up Games, which you’ve been working with, has been growing. From your perspective, how and why have these shifts occurred, and how do you feel about them?
Jon: We worked very hard for many years to keep Poptropica rolling forward. It was our main passion to keep telling stories through creating games. For many years that was solely through Poptropica. It was an amazing ride. Like all studios there have been bumps along the way, but we continued to learn. Our passion for creating these kinds of games has not stopped. It was time to position Poptropica with Coolmath Games. They have been wonderful partners with us. Their traffic is very strong, and we hope many of our dedicated Poptropica players will join forces with those that play on Coolmath Games. With this transition I hope our Poptropica community of players will grow even more. The more people play and have fun on Poptropica, the greater the possibilities can open for Poptropica’s future.
As we made these kinds of transitions, we needed our company to keep moving forward. As gaming evolved, we did too, and we created Suit Up Games. We have a strong relationship with our clients who want to keep making games with us. We also have our own ideas for games from the stories we want to tell. The future is bright. There are many cool things to come.
PHB: What does the future hold for Poptropica and Suit Up Games? Will the Poptropica brand develop further beyond the game — for example with Poptropica Junior, potential animated series, and expansion of the graphic novels?
Jon: Regarding Suit Up Games, we have more games in the pipeline, and we’re excited about what will be coming up next. I wish I could share more, but you’ll see! For Poptropica, we’ve just recently moved to Coolmath Games, so we are not ready to make any big moves. Our clients that work with us to create Poptropica games are still engaged in conversations with us, so the door is open to possibilities. We are keeping our perspectives open to what makes the most sense for our studio and our audience.
PHB: What are you most proud of having achieved with Poptropica?
Jon: I’m sincerely grateful to have been part of the team that helped create and supported the growth of Poptropica. During the first couple months I got to illustrate the Underworld scenes for Mythology Island, and I created a Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs mini game experience. It didn’t take me long to realize how cool it is to be a Poptropica Creator. Because my role has been more focused on the branded games that generate revenue for Poptropica, I’ve been in more of a supportive role. While the team has been more like the working parts of the engine, I was like the fuel to help it keep moving. Today I get to be an active part of the character animations in our games so now maybe I’m a piston. Haha.
PHB: Anything else you want to share with Poptropicans everywhere?
Jon: Keep having fun on Poptropica. Six years ago, the phrase “Poptropica Forever” came to my mind and our team kept this focus as we continued to figure out how we’d keep this legacy going. As you keep playing and having fun, who knows what the future will bring for Poptropica? Stick around and we’ll find out.
Thanks, Jon, for all that you do for Poptropica, and sharing your insights with us! Though Poptropica isn’t ready for more updates now, we’re hopeful about how the door remains open for future possibilities.
If you liked this post, you may also enjoy other interviews we’ve done with various Poptropica Creators, such as Jess Brallier, Mitch Krpata (twice), Abhi Arya, and the team collectively. Keep on poppin’ on!
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