Neopets

Neopets is an online virtual pet game. The site was opened to the public on November 15, 1999, by Adam Powell and Donna Williams, and a majority interest was bought by Doug Dohring soon after being created. more...

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It is currently owned by Viacom after a business transaction valued at $160 million.

The game allows users to create and take care of one to four of 54 species collectively called Neopets, caring for and feeding them in the worlds of Neopia, using Neopoints (NP), the currency of the game. Neopoints are earned through playing games or won through a diverse array of contests and activities on the site. In addition, there are discussion boards, plots, and various sets of items and other things to collect. Its style contains quirks like an abundance of popular culture references. Beyond the website, there is a variety of merchandise, such as two video games, Neopets: The Darkest Faerie, Neopets: Petpet Adventures: The Wand of Wishing and a trading card game. The site has sparked many controversies such as those surrounding the existence of gambling-themed games, the extensive use of immersive advertising, and the Scientology beliefs of the CEO, Doug Dohring.

Company information

In May 2004, Nielsen/Net Ratings reported that people were spending around three hours a month on Neopets, more than any other site in its Nielsen category. By May 2005, a Neopets-affiliated video game producer cited about 35 million unique users, 11 million unique IP addresses per month, and 4 billion web page views per month. This producer also described 20% of the users as 18 or older, with the median of the remaining 80% at about 14. . More recently, in 1 August 2006 Neopets reported over 123 million accounts, and over 184 million pets (each account can have a maximum of 4 pets and some users have several accounts). Updated statistics may be found on the Neopets "Pet Central" Page. However, there is some doubt over the veracity of these statistics (see "Controversy" below).

Although the company is based in the United States, its founders are British and the site retains British English spellings (though there are some exceptions). In addition to English, as of July 2006 the site is available translated (with varying degrees of completeness) into ten other languages: Dutch, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese-simplified, Chinese-traditional, Japanese and Korean. Neopets Inc. also operates an Asian branch, which is partially owned by Green Dot Capital, a subsidiary of the investment vehicle of the Government of Singapore, Temasek Holdings.

On June 20, 2005, Viacom stated that it had bought Neopets in a deal that has been valued at approximately $160 million. According to Viacom, Dohring, the current CEO of Neopets, along with other Neopets senior managers, will continue to hold their positions after the acquisition has been completed.

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