Neopets might not be the online juggernaut it was at its peak, but it's still going, and even the death of Adobe Flash won't be enough to stop its continued updates according to the team behind the long-running website. Neopets had previously indicated it had plans in place to make sure Adobe Flash getting left behind didn't also mean the website would finally be shut down, as the service was still largely built upon Flash and relied heavily on the software to function properly.
While it may seem strange that any website currently visited by more than a handful of people would run on Flash, Neopets is a bizarre case. Neopets was first released in 1999 by independent developers and swiftly established itself as an early 2000s phenomenon, blending creature collection and battling with social elements that made the website appealing to both young and old patrons. Neopets was eventually bought by Viacom for $160 million in 2005, then sold again in 2014 to JumpStart Games for an amount that wasn't made public. Despite a dramatic drop off in popularity for a number of reasons, the website persists, and dedicated users remain invested in its frequent content updates and ever-expanding range of customization options.
As it turns out, Neopets' ability to survive is so legendary not even the software it was virtually built upon being made obsolete can kill it. A new developer update video released by the Neopets team outlined its plans for the website, which included the massive transition from Flash to HTML5, and also hinted at future updates as well, indicating there's still more in store for the brand. Fittingly titled the "End of Flash Update Producer Chat," the video is also notable for the comments section, which at time of writing is overwhelmingly positive, praising the team's transparency and dedication to the game.
The survival of Neopets might not be the massive news that it would have been in the mid-2000s, but it's still heartwarming to see. Plenty of Neopets users credit the website with their ability to learn how to code or interact online in a well-behaved manner, and it's a living historical artifact of a different age of the internet.
The blast from the past that is Neopets will survive the end of Flash and move into a brighter HTML5 future. What's in store after is likely a continued commitment to making a mobile version of Neopets be a draw, but it's not like the website is devoid of content or updates - there's even a Neopets animated series in the works.
Source: Neopets/YouTube