Club Penguin Ready to Slip and Slide into the Hearts of Francophone Kids
Kelowna BC – Following its phenomenal success with millions of children and parents around the globe, the virtual world of Club Penguin has opened its igloo doors to the francophone community.
The new French language version of Club Penguin is supported by francophone staff in Europe and Canada who understand the unique cultural references of the French audience and can provide timely and responsive moderation and customer support.
“As a Canadian-based company, we’re particularly excited to be able to offer French-speaking children and families in this country the same opportunity to explore the fun and creativity of Club Penguin in their own language that so many other kids around the world already enjoy,” says Lane Merrifield, one of Club Penguin’s founders and executive vice president of Disney Online Studios.
Club Penguin, which launched in English in 2005, is one of the largest and fastest-growing virtual worlds for children where they can explore, play games and interact with friends. The virtual world enhances the Walt Disney Company’s legacy of rich and immersive entertainment that can be enjoyed by the whole family.
With its imaginative play environment, word filtering technology and live moderators who monitor chat and activity on the site and work to prevent the sharing of inappropriate or personally identifiable information, Club Penguin has built a reputation as a safe and secure online environment that provides fun for kids and peace of mind for parents.
“One of our goals with Club Penguin was to create a safe haven online where our own children could come together with kids from around the world to interact, play, create and learn from each other,” says Merrifield. “Now that our players have the option of playing in French it’s one more step in becoming a truly global online community for children.”
Club Penguin is designed for six to 14-year-olds but is open to penguins of all ages. To waddle into the fun, players select a penguin avatar then head off to explore, play games and interact through chat and post cards. Penguins can also drop by the local café, act in the latest theatrical play or meet up at the local discotheque.
A parent’s email address is required to create a penguin, and parental permission is necessary in order to activate an account and play in the virtual world. Parents can also create their own account and logon to view their child’s account history, change their child’s password, choose a different chat mode, and set a time limit for how long their child is allowed to visit Club Penguin.
Club Penguin is free to play, however special features such as priority access, exclusive parties and opportunities for players to customize their penguin and igloo require a membership at a cost of $5.95 a month.
In addition to being available in English and French, the virtual world is also in Portuguese, with a Spanish version launching this summer.