Like many of the virtual worlds from the Flash Era of the internet, I only witnessed Moshi Monsters from a distance. I never played the game, and really only watched their videos and looked at blogs about their world.
What I admire most about Moshi Monsters is the same thing I admire most about Bin Weevils: I love how proud the teams are of both of those products. There’s a British pride to both of them, and a healthy amount of English cheekiness, too. It certainly made both of them feel remarkably different than Club Penguin to me.
Moshi Monsters released in beta on this day in 2008. From what I know about Michael Acton-Smith, he’s an ambitious and creative entrepreneur who feels like a bit like a newer Richard Branson. (Perhaps with a less checkered past as well.) With Club Penguin getting acquired the year before, I’m sure it helped fuel some momentum to create Moshi Monsters and launch it as quickly as possible.
The great thing about all the virtual world competition in the mid-2000s was how many popped up!