How the mighty have fallen
As Destructoid’s residentClub Penguinexpert and fangirl,I was devastated to hear the news thatClub Penguin Rewritten, the fan-made recreation of the game that has been running on and off since 2017, has officially been shut down for good.
Rewrittenhad seen a huge influx of players at the start of the pandemic, making it one of the most popularClub Penguinrecreation fan sites, of which there were plenty running on private servers. PerKotaku, the website was actually seized by the City Police of London, and three people were arrested, although reports say they have since been released.
Now, all of the previously-bustlingClub PenguinRewrittensites and communities have been shut down. Its official Discord now only has one message from an admin: “CPRewritten is shutting down effective immediately due to a full request by Disney. We have voluntarily given control over the website to the police for them to continue their copyright investigation.”
The game’s website, which had over ten million users over the course of its run, is now empty aside from a statement thatreads, “This site has been taken over by Operation Creative, Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU),” which is a department of the City Police of London.
it is 4am10 hours has passed since the notice that it is being shut downclub penguin rewritten has been taken by the police, no one can login nor access the site
i refuse to leave the mines. they are taking us one by one. we will sit here until the true end.pic.twitter.com/SaqvuwxtlT
— s m o l (@s_m_o_l)August 03, 2025
The police also gave astatementto aClub Penguinfansite, which stated that “Three people were arrested on April 12 on suspicion of distributing materials infringing copyright and searches were carried out. They have been released under investigation and to aid with the police investigation, they agreed to sign over the website to the control of PIPCU.”
With that,Club Penguin Rewrittenis no more.
It’s an apt reminder that Disney has ownedClub Penguinsince 2007, and as we all know, they don’t really take tocopyright infringementkindly. It’s just a shame that it all had to go down this way, especially considering the game still has such a huge fan base. It seems that Disney has long since given up onClub Penguin, though, and I fear this is the last we’ll ever see of our beloved site. Thanks for all the memories, old friend.We’ll miss you.
