They say your childhood ends the day you go outside to “play” blissfully unaware it’d be the very last time before everyone you knew wanted to “hang out” instead. For us, it ended a little beyond that point on this very day: world-weary, beaten, bitter, and now confronted with the news that beloved noughties gaming hub – Miniclip – is shutting down all of its online servers.
Yes… gone are the days of rushing home from school, flinging your backpack (and whatever bullshit homework) aside with reckless abandon, and logging on for a healthy session of Bubble Trouble, Raft Wars, Skywire, Free Runnginy2, BMX Freestyle, Empire, Metal Slug, plus literally hundreds of other free minigames.
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According to PC Gamer, the end of this era can be attributed to two key factors…
- The shut down of Adobe Flash towards the end of 2020, which was what powered the majority of Miniclip’s catalogue; any game that couldn’t migrate to HTML 5 effectively died.
- The fact that this generation’s youth already has access to far more media than we did back in the day, across an entire range of devices.
Instead, Miniclip – which was launched in 2001 with a budget of just £40,000 and valuated at over £275 million circa 2008 – will now cater towards those goddamn zoomers by focusing solely on mobile games.
The pivot in question was actually announced earlier this year around March, alongside the revelation Miniclip’s iOS and Android titles had amassed over four billion downloads.
“Since opening our mobile division back in 2010, players have been migrating to mobile to play their favourite games,” said Miniclip.
“Therefore, we are focusing on mobile to deliver incredible experiences for both existing and new players.”
Currently, all that remains of its classic-era legacy is Agario and 8 Ball Pool.
Miniclip Official Statement:
Through our 21 years, Miniclip and the wider gaming industry has undergone an incredible transformation. Players of our web-based games have gradually been moving to mobile, where they are still able to enjoy their favourite games like Agar.io and 8 Ball Pool
In March, we announced the evolution of Miniclip.com, marking an incredible milestone in our journey and mission to create games that millions of people love to play across the world. We’re thrilled to announce that Miniclip.com is now our primary domain, where visitors can discover our latest news, company information, job openings, and games.
Miniclip.com may look different to begin with, but our devoted fans and players can continue to play our iconic titles: 8 Ball Pool and Agar.io.
We’d like to thank all of you for being part of our global community. Your favourite games can still be downloaded and played on your phone, as we continue to create bigger and better games than ever before.
