Disney discontinued this game in 2013. A group of teenagers kept it alive

today, Toontown rewritten It has over 2 million registered users, with an average of 50,000 users per month and 10,000 users per day. Ziolkowski, now 26 and a professional game designer, is still part of the team of volunteers who maintain and develop the game. Toontown The community is alive and growing.

A Disney spokesman declined to comment.

the Toontown rewritten The team knows they are operating in murky waters. Without a licensing agreement from Disney, Disney’s lawyers could end 11 years of hard work at any moment. That’s why they’ve taken extensive steps to try to circumvent any concerns the Mouse House might have, including establishing a non-profit organization to oversee the game; Make the game free to play; giving up advertising revenue; Removed NPCs for Disney characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald Duck; And implementing a robust content management system to protect young players.

“We try not to mess with their brand,” says Elizabeth Reidy, the company’s chief creative officer. TTR. “We try not to poke the bear.”

These volunteers don’t just donate their time. Cartoons of the World, a non-profit organization behind Toontown rewrittenIt is funded entirely through voluntary donations. Server costs alone for TTR It amounted to nearly $17,000 in 2023, according to tax returns. Toons of the World’s remaining expenses — totaling approximately $22,000 — go toward hosting in-person fan conventions and running an online museum dedicated to preserving the history of the original MMO.

“Games and communities die all the time when they’re closed,” says Maya Cohen, technical director of Games & Communities. TTR Which was part of early Renaissance efforts. “While I don’t know for sure, I’d like to imagine that when people look at us at Disney, they’ll probably be happy to see the impact their project has on players and how they’re keeping it alive for so long.”

“Don’t let the company grind you down”

toontown online It is widely considered to be the first online multiplayer game designed for families. It’s the brainchild of game designer Jesse Schell, and was first released in 2003 and was inspired by Toontown of… Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Duckburg, the birthplace of Donald, Daisy, and the fictional Uncle Scrooge created by artist Carl Barks.

In the game, players (customizable cartoon animals called “Toons”) encounter a world of Toontown that has been taken over by business robots, who lurk in the streets and take over stores with their ugly, sad corporate offices. To fight back, the Toons work together to complete missions and use silly gags like cream pies and soda bottles to defeat villains and take back their city.