Webkinz

Stuffed animal brand and video game series

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Webkinz

Type of site

| Virtual plush toy world
Founded| 2005; 20 years ago (2005)
Founder(s)| Ganz
URL| webkinz.com
Commercial| Yes
Registration| Required

Webkinz is a plush toy and toys-to-life video game franchise created by the Canadian toy company Ganz. The game launched on April 15th, 2005, with Webkinz Day being celebrated on April 29th.[1]

Each Webkinz plush toy includes an attached tag with a unique "Secret Code" printed on it. With this code, players can unlock and play in Webkinz World, an online world, with a virtual version of their plush toy.

On October 23, 2020, Ganz released Webkinz Next, a 3D successor to the original Webkinz game. The original game continues to be playable, being renamed to Webkinz Classic.[2] While originally playable from the site, following the announcement of Adobe Flash Player shutting down in 2020, the game has now become downloadable.[3]

## Game Development

[edit]

The development for Webkinz started in late 2003, starting off with the plush toys. To further promote the toys, Howard Ganz, the owner of the Ganz company, wanted to create a new play experience based around discovery. This idea of play was inspired by the Cabbage Patch Kids.[4] Soon, the idea of the plush toy "coming to life" was then made and expanded upon by Karl Borst, the creative director of Webkinz.[5]

The game was originally made to be in 3D. However, due to the amount of time that would be taken to model the number of pets and with the difficulties in animation, this idea was scrapped in favor for 2D. This then led to a 2D skeleton system to be made which can be applied to multiple different pets. With this, the team was able to continuously add new pets. The game was made using Adobe Flash and ActionScript 1, 2, and 3. The art was made using Adobe Illustrator.[4]

Throughout the development of the game, multiple playtests were conducted. From this, the team was allowed to gain an understanding of the audience's reactions and understanding of the game was at the time. New ideas were also learned from these playtests which the team took and further developed. One playtest, occurring in August 2004, ended with the team scrapping some finished work and concepts. This led to the team missing their plan of releasing the game during the holidays.[5]

After the site’s premiere in 2005, users could register the code on the tag of their plush toys and play games with the virtual version of their adopted Webkinz pet. The original site had among its features a few games in the arcade section, the “W-Shop” where users could use their in-game points for virtual items, and the ability to customize the pets’ rooms, but many more interactive features have been added to Webkinz World since, including a school (called the “Kinzville Academy”) where users can play minigames which improve their pets’ abilities, and a trivia section where users can earn points for answering questions.

In 2015, a decade after the site’s launch, Ganz introduced a major update to the game (called Webkinz X), which had been failing due to certain technical errors in the coding. Webkinz X improved many of these problems, but also created many more, as the unique mixture of new code and code as old as 2005 resulted in several hundred in-game objects disappearing, or otherwise not functioning properly; the animation joints of some Webkinz avatars also were affected, often resulting in an awkward and disjointed appearance.

The Webkinz World site was run by Adobe Flash, and in 2018, in accordance with Adobe’s decision to no longer support Flash Player, Ganz worked with Adobe to convert the entire game interface from an embedded Flash Player-driven web game into a desktop app, which can be downloaded directly from the Webkinz website.[3]

## Types of Webkinz

[edit]

Webkinz are modeled after real pets and animals, as well as prehistoric animals and mythical creatures. Along with the regular Webkinz toys, there are also smaller, less expensive versions called Lil’ Kinz, as well as larger, more expensive versions in the Signature collection, which ran from April 2009 to December 2013. Lil’ Kinz unlock the same virtual items as a regular-size Webkinz, but feature a smaller in-game avatar.

The Webkinz Signatures were designed by a different toy company which had partnered with Ganz, and included three different sub-lines of plush: Webkinz Signature, Webkinz Small Signature, and Webkinz Signature Endangered, the latter being based on real-life endangered species of animals, and unlocking a trivia section about the respective animal; purchasing a Signature also unlocked access to a virtual item from the Signature theme. Production of Signatures stopped when the contract Ganz held ended, and new Signature plushes were not made, in part to their steeper price. Ganz continues to release new Signature pets, albeit without their plush counterparts, with certain pets only available as special promotional items; virtual Signatures and other pets given away in this manner often run for an extremely steep price, ranging from $25 per code on third-party sites such as eBay, to $2,000 per code (including several other virtual promotional items), when acquired through the Ganz eStore website itself.

In May 2009, the Birthstone Pets series was released, with one new virtual Birthstone Pet (a brightly-colored dog with the corresponding birthstone on its hip) being released for each corresponding month. In April 2010, Ganz replaced the Birthstone Pets series with the Zodiac Pets series. Similarly, one Zodiac Pet was released every month, and were limited to just digital avatars, with no plush being made available; however, there was greater variety in the types of animals offered, not comprising only dogs as in the Birthstone Pets series, but including an eagle, a snake, a horse, a crab, and even a butterfly.

In 2011, the CandyKinz series was released, which was originally composed of virtual-only pets with various dessert-related themes. Later, plush versions of some of the CandyKinz were made available, such as the Gingerbread Puppy. In June 2012, the Rockerz Pets series was released, which consisted of rock band-themed pets. The purchase of a plush toy unlocked a virtual pet and a virtual item from the Rockerz theme, in a similar manner as the Webkinz Signatures. Some later Rockerz pets were only available as digital avatars.

In 2019, Ganz announced that the “first generation” of Webkinz plush was ending and that no new plush pets would be released for the time being, but fully virtual pets would still be created and available to purchase.[6] In November 2020, Ganz resumed the creation of plush Webkinz toys for the spin-off game Webkinz Next. New pets include a code for Webkinz Classic and a code for Webkinz Next.[7]

## Gameplay

[edit]

Each Webkinz stuffed animal and Webkinz accessory comes with an 8-character code, within a tag tied onto the plush. By registering this code on the Webkinz Classic desktop application or mobile app, the customer "adopts" a pet in the virtual Webkinz World. Without the code, the user will not get access to the full Webkinz World, but they can create a free account. On January 19, 2011, Ganz announced that Webkinz World accounts would no longer expire, meaning users would not have to buy a new pet each year to renew their account. However, certain features become inaccessible for accounts that have not registered a new pet for over a year, and accounts without active users are deleted after a certain period of time.

All inactive accounts were once stored to later be unarchived upon retrieval, but it was announced by Ganz, that on Oct. 1, 2019, all archived accounts would be deleted after seven years of inactivity, due to storage issues, and a change in children’s online privacy laws. No new accounts were archived, and users with free accounts which had been abandoned for more than six months would be deleted.

The Webkinz World is an online play area with its economy controlled by Ganz. The user can earn money (called KinzCash) by adopting new pets, playing online games, answering general knowledge questions, and through daily activities like spinning the Wheel of WOW, playing Wishing Well 2, or completing jobs (minigames) available once every 8 hours. Each day, there is a Game of the Day which can be played for bonus KinzCash, and other bonuses are available each hour, full days on weekends, and afternoons only on weekdays. With each Webkinz toy purchased, more KinzCash, rooms, and items are added to the user's account.

Many of the tasks in Webkinz World involve collecting items. For example, recipes are released for the players through cookbooks, or (formerly) one of the in-game TV shows called The Secret Chef. "Gems" can be mined once a day at the Curio Shop, with a full set of gems being turned into the Webkinz Crown of Wonder and used to buy exclusive items. A similar feature, called Alyssa's Star Challenge, involves users clicking on colored stars to find valuable stars.

The online world also contains many rare or exclusive items. Some of these items require developing a friendship with the Curio Shop owner to purchase, while others are obtained by registering other Webkinz accessories purchased in the real world. Each type of pet gets a special item, and food available exclusively for them. A "Pet of the Month" is announced at the beginning of each month. Users with the Pet of the Month on their account can participate in special minigames and rewards; if a person registers the announced pet in that month, they will also receive other exclusive items.

## W-Plus Items

[edit]

While the plush toys were the main item, the company would go on to make various other related items to promote the franchise. These items included: body spray, lip gloss, bookmarks, pet clothing, pet carriers, clothing, mouse pads, ornaments, pencil cases, school supplies, and figurines. Other plush toys of characters within the game were also made, that being Wacky Zingoz and a Zumbuddy. These items would come with a secret code as well to be used in game, within the Code Shop. With the codes, players could unlock items for their pets.[8]

### Trading Cards

[edit]

Collectible trading cards were released, with 4 series in total. These cards would feature illustrations, Webkinz pets, items, and recipes. Each pack would also come with codes to unlock exclusive items and room themes. Throughout the series, each pack would contain 6 cards, with the amount of each type of card varying depending on the series.

Series 1 contained 80 cards, featuring specialty cards called: Challenge Cards, Curio Shop Curiosities, and Webkinz Doodlez. Challenge Cards allowed for a game to be played and had 15 cards in total to build a deck with. Curio Shop Curiosites featured rare items on foil cards. Webkinz Doodlez, as the name implies, featured sketches showing the concepts for ideas in game.[9]

Series 2 contained 85 cards, adding new characters and items that were added in game after the first series of cards. This series added 15 new Challenge Cards and introduced two new types of specialty cards, these being called: W-Tales Snapshots and At Paw Level. W-Tales Snapshots is a foil set of 8 cards with illustrations from in game stories. At Paw Level is another set of 8 foil cards displaying how in game items look from a pet's point of view.[10]

Series 3 changed the card format slightly. Cards from series 3 now has full card art and Webkinz trivia on the back. This series introduced two new card types, this being the Webkinz Profilez and Webkinz Sticker cards. Webkinz Profilez featured photos of the plush toys and added pet facts. Webkinz Sticker cards would have stickers of Webkinz pets, items, and in game logos. This series also introduced a card exclusive pet named the Magical Retriever.[11]

Series 4 contained 90 cards, adding a new W-Tales whose story spans through all 90 cards. The Webkinz Sticker cards got updated as well, including more stickers on the cards and introducing new Dressed Up sticker cards. Another addition is the inclusion of two puzzles. The pieces of the puzzle would be found behind the sticker cards. The regular sticker cards would complete one puzzle, while the Dressed Up sticker cards would complete the other. This series introduced another card exclusive pet named the Magical Panda.[12]

## Criticism

[edit]

This "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. Please help integrate negative information into other sections or remove undue focus on minor aspects through discussion on the talk page. (February 2023)

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* Parents have raised concerns regarding children’s use and potential overuse of the Webkinz toys.
* Some parents have voiced concerns about the website’s online chat system.[citation needed] The chat systems, known as KinzChat and KinzChat Plus, respectively, have various safety precautions; these include placing restrictions on who can send messages, disallowing users to type numbers or certain words, and banning certain users from speaking (KinzChat Plus), and opting for a “safe-chat” system wherein users can only post pre-written phrases from a list (regular KinzChat).[13]
* Some schools have expressed concern about the toys becoming a distraction from education. This has occasionally resulted in Webkinz being banned from school grounds.[14] However, Webkinz World also features several educational games, including jigsaw puzzles, critical thinking games, word games, and trivia about the real world.
* Some users had voiced criticism when the once advertisement-free site[15] began displaying advertisements, previously only for their additional game-related products, but now also for movies, such as Alvin and the Chipmunks and Bee Movie.[16] Due to this, an option for members to block advertisements promoting content that is not sponsored by or affiliated with Webkinz or Ganz had been created. However, if enabled, this option could not be changed until 30 days had passed. [citation needed]
* In 2007, rumors spread about a character that would kill Webkinz on the site,[17][18][19] supposedly inserted by a disgruntled employee or a rival site.[18] These claims were proven false.[20]
* Users criticized the platform's technical issues and glitches, particularly during periods of high traffic. Users have also reported slow loading times, unexpected logouts, and missing items, leading to frustration among both players and parents.

### 2020 data breach

[edit]

In April 2020, a hacker gained access to the login information of almost 23 million players, which was later leaked.[21] As a response to this, Ganz later strengthened their encryption and required all Webkinz users to reset their passwords.[22]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ @karlborst (July 7, 2020). "Random #Webkinz fact: we launched on April 15th, 2005. I moved on Webkinz Day to the 29th because Easter was on April 17th in 2006 and I didn't want it so close" (Tweet) - via Twitter.
2. ^ "Join the Family | WKN: Webkinz Newz". webkinznewz.ganzworld.com. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
3. ^ a b "Update on Flash End-of-Life | WKN: Webkinz Newz". webkinznewz.ganzworld.com. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
4. ^ a b Weimer, Jackson (September 1, 2021). "Webkinz's OG Creative Director Answers 25 Questions We All Had As Kids". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
5. ^ a b Traylor, Scott (November 2012). "Inside the World of Webkinz" (PDF). childrenstech.com.
6. ^ "Official Statement on the Future of Webkinz Plush Toys | WKN: Webkinz Newz". Archived from the original on 2019-09-06. Retrieved 2019-09-06.
7. ^ "They're Here! All-New Webkinz Plush Toys!". WKN: Webkinz Newz. Archived from the original on 2021-05-23. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
8. ^ "Other Products". customerservice.webkinz.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2018.
9. ^ "About Webkinz Trading Cards". webkinz.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2008.
10. ^ "Trading Cards Series II Available Now! Read all about it!". webkinz.com. Archived from the original on April 7, 2008.
11. ^ "Series 3 Trading Cards are in stores now! Join the search for the rare Magical Retriever pet!". webkinz.com. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008.
12. ^ "Trading Cards Series 4 | WKN: Webkinz Newz". webkinznewz.ganzworld.com. Retrieved 2025-05-06.
13. ^ Pardo, Steve (2007-04-11). "Kids hooked on Webkinz world". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2007-04-23.[dead link]
14. ^ Seltz, Johanna (2007-04-08). "Toy causes classroom distraction". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2007-07-12.
15. ^ Barakat, Matthew (2007-07-13). "Review: Webkinz pleases parents and children". NBC News. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2007-08-20.
16. ^ "CCFC News – Webkinz takes heat for taking advertising". Archived from the original on 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2008-04-15.
17. ^ Davis, Lisa (28 September 2007). "Interactive Toys Like Webkinz Are Drawing Young Kids, Worrying Some Parents." Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
18. ^ a b Mikkelson, Barbara; David Mikkelson (3 January 2008). "Webkinz Murderer". Snopes.com. Urban Legends Reference Pages. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 2023-02-20. Retrieved 2009-09-19.
19. ^ Schoberg, Diana (9 February 2007). "Virtual Pet Threat: No Need to Worry, Kids Assured". The [Quincy] Patriot Ledger.
20. ^ "Concerned About a Rumor?". Webkinz.com. Concerned About a Rumor. p. 1\. Archived from the original on 2007-02-25. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
21. ^ "Children's game Webkinz suffers from a data breach (Includes interview)". www.digitaljournal.com. 2020-04-21. Archived from the original on 2020-05-24. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
22. ^ "Webkinz Incident and Password Change". WKN: Webkinz Newz. Archived from the original on 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2020-05-17.

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