Moshi Monsters | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Mind Candy |
Engine | Adobe Flash Player |
Platform(s) | Web browser |
Release | 16 April 2008-13 December 2019 |
Genre(s) | Online game |
Moshi Monsters was a British website aimed at children aged 6–12,[1] with over 80 million registered users in 150 territories worldwide.[2] Users could choose from one of six virtual pet monsters (Diavlo, Luvli, Katsuma, Poppet, Furi and Zommer) they could create, name and nurture. Once their pet had been customized, players could navigate their way around Monstro City, take daily puzzle challenges to earn 'Rox' (a virtual currency), play games, personalize their room and communicate with other users in a safe environment, although this has been disputed.[3] Moshi Monsters officially closed on 13 December 2019.
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The game was created in late 2007 by Michael Acton Smith, and developed in 2008 by entertainment company Mind Candy and officially launched in April 2008.[4] As of December 2009, there were at least 10 million players registered.[5] In March 2010, Mind Candy announced that there were 15 million users and by September 2010, that number had surpassed 25 million.[6] In June 2011, it was announced that there were 50 million users.[7] On 13 December 2019, Moshi Monsters shut down permanently.
The monsters are the characters that the user plays as. They are given a name by the user when they register at the website. There are six types of monsters. Poppet, Katsuma, Furi, Diavlo, Luvli, and Zommer.
The monsters (in-game pets) keep their own pets, called 'Moshlings'. They come in a variety of themed sets, including Arties, Beasties, Kitties, and Spookies. Those who aren't paying members can keep two 'Moshlings' in their room whilst paying members can keep up to six and visit other pets in the zoo.
Since its digital popularity, Moshi Monsters has grown commercially to include physical products, including games, the Moshi Monsters Magazine (number one selling children's magazine in the UK in 2011),[8] a best-selling DS video game,[9] a number 4 music album, books, membership cards, bath soap, chocolate calendars, trading cards, figures of many Moshlings, mobile games, and a Moshi Monsters feature film. Eight Moshi Monster toys were included in McDonald's Happy Meals in the United States and Canada in December 2013.[10]
In 2011 Mind Candy released a Moshi Monsters based Nintendo DS game. the game is themed around moshlings and collecting and caring for them.
In July 2013, Mind Candy released Moshi Monsters Village on Google Play,[11] a 3D city-builder published by GREE and developed by Tag Games. After GREE UK shut down,[12] Mind Candy decided to take over the game as publisher, leaving the development to Tag Games. The game was relaunched on Apple devices on 18 December 2013 immediately ahead of the release of the movie.
In December 2013, Mind Candy published the companion app Talking Poppet, also developed by Tag Games.
In February 2014, Moshi Karts was released on iOS by Mind Candy.
In June 2014, Moshling Rescue a 'match three' game based on the Moshling characters was released on iOS and Android.
In early 2015 Mind Candy released an app called World of Warriors which was shut down in October 2018.
In November 2016, they released the Moshi MonstersEgg Hunt app, alongside a companion storybook of the same name.
In March 2012, Mind Candy confirmed a major partnership deal with Sony Music.[13] The deal followed the recent launch of Mind Candy's own music label, Moshi Monsters Music. The deal will see Sony Music handle the distribution aspects of Moshi Monsters' music releases, starting with the debut album Moshi Monsters, Music Rox!Jason Perry, formerly with the UK rock band A and head of Moshi Music, is driving the new album. The Moshi Monsters series features music from Sonic Boom, Beatie Wolfe, The Blackout, Portia Conn, and songs such as 'Moptop Tweenybop' and 'Merry Twistmas'. Two albums are available on iTunes and Google Play, as well as on disc. One album contains the songs from Moshi Monsters: The Movie, and another album has some of Moshi Monster's first songs. Not all songs are available to buy on various platforms.
In 2013, Mind Candy announced a Moshi Monsters film. In September 2013, Issue 34 of the Moshi Monsters Magazine included a Moshi Music DVD with a short trailer. On 10 October 2013 a short preview of the trailer was broadcast on ITV Daybreak. Later that day, the trailer was released on MSN. The film was released on 20 December 2013 in the UK and 20 February 2014 in Australia. The DVD and Blu-ray were released on 14 April 2014 in the UK and 3 April 2014 in Australia.[14]
In October 2011, Ate My Heart Inc, representing the musician Lady Gaga, were granted an interim injunction by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales to stop Mind Candy, parent company of Moshi Monsters, from releasing music on iTunes by a Moshi Monster character known as Lady Goo Goo. The songs intended for release included the parody 'Peppy-razzi', similar to the Lady Gaga hit 'Paparazzi'.[15] Justice Vos of the High Court ruled that Lady Goo Goo could appear in the Moshi Monsters game, but that Mind Candy could not release, promote, advertise, sell, distribute, or otherwise make available 'any musical work or video that purports to be performed by a character by the name of Lady Goo Goo, or that otherwise uses the name Lady Goo Goo or any variant thereon'.[16] Lady Goo Goo was later replaced with a new Moshling named Baby Rox, who is not a parody of any particular celebrity.
The creator of Moshi Monsters, Mind Candy, suffered a loss of £2.2m in 2013 due to a drop in sales from Moshi Monsters. The company's financial reports have shown that the profit declined by 34.8% from £46.9 million in 2012 to £30.6 million in 2013.
In 2015, Mind Candy revealed that they were preparing to relaunch Moshi Monsters for a younger audience of four- to seven-year-olds, initially as animation with apps and toys to follow. However, no changes have been made to the Moshi Monsters site since then, apart from the removal of the forums section.
Since 2015, the decline of Moshi Monsters and the site's creator Mind Candy has continued. The peak of Moshi Monsters' popularity was in 2012 at £46.9m, and it has continued to decline. In 2018, total revenues were £5.2m, compared with £13.2m in 2014.[17]
The Moshi Monsters website was shut down on 13 December 2019.[18]
In 2015, both Bin Weevils and Moshi Monsters were told to change the wording of their in-app advertisements by the Advertising Standards Authority, who said that the adverts and phrases such as 'The Super Moshis need YOU' pressured users to buy certain items inside the game. Mind Candy said that it took its responsibilities 'very seriously with regards to how we communicate with all of our fans, especially children.' It went on to say that Mind Candy had 'been working with the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) to ensure that we adhere to best practice and have made changes to the Moshi Monsters game accordingly. We will continue to work with the ASA in any way possible.'[19]
Moshi Monsters started out as an online world of adoptable pet monsters for boys and girls aged 6-12 back in 2008.
You've probably harvested crops on Farmville. You've almost certainly bruised up some pigs playing Angry Birds. But have you heard of Moshi Monsters? It's one of the biggest and fastest-growing online games for kids in the U.K. and is poised to hit it big in the U.S.
Moshi Monsters is the brainchild of Michael Acton Smith, the 37-year-old founder of Shoreditch, England-based entertainment company Mind Candy. Started in 2008, Moshi Monsters is a children's game with a social networking element that allows users to adopt and care for their own pet monsters in a virtual world. Users pay a $6 monthly fee to play the game.
By February 2011, the site had amassed 35 million users worldwide. That number jumped to 50 million users last June.
With about 100 employees and a product line that now includes Moshi-branded toys, a magazine and Moshi TV, Mind Candy is aiming for monster growth. Last year, the company says it generated more than $100 million in gross sales on all Moshi Monsters-related products.
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But Smith -- who had previously co-founded a popular online retail site called Firebox.com -- didn't have the smoothest of entries into the competitive children's entertainment industry. In 2005, Mind Candy first launched an online scavenger hunt game called Perplex City. But despite early acclaim, the game had a meager 50,000 paying users after two years, and Mind Candy burned through $9 million of the $10 million Smith had raised in startup funds.
On the brink of going out of business, Smith used the $1 million he had left and the lessons he'd learned from the failure of Perplex City to create Moshi Monsters. Here, Smith shares three of the biggest lessons that helped him build a multimillion dollar business:
1. Hire slow and fire fast.
When developing Perplex City, Smith says he made the mistake of hiring friends, and friends of friends, instead of seeking the most qualified people who'd mesh well with the company. He was also too slow about replacing those lackluster employees.
'Before I knew it, I had a company full of people who didn't know what they were doing,' Smith says. 'If you don't take your time and find amazing people, it can be hard to execute on your amazing ideas.'
2. Don't believe the hype.
With Perplex City winning awards and generating lots of buzz, Smith says he and his team focused too much on all the accolades instead of growing the business.
'We were told that we were the future of the entertainment industry and unfortunately got carried away with all the hype,' he says. 'I ignored the fundamentals of the business and basked in the spotlight of the attention.'
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3. Listen to your gut instinct.
'It got to the point [with Perplex City] that I'd wake up at 4 a.m. every morning and just lie there thinking, 'what is going on?' Smith recalls. 'I didn't enjoy going to work. Nothing about it felt right.'
Smith knew that Perplex City wasn't going to survive, but didn't act fast enough to save it. 'If you don't think something's working, it's the job of the entrepreneur to stop and make critical changes,' he says.