Netbabyworld

Netbabyworld is one of the first browser-based social gaming sites, known for its distinctive low-polygon 3d imagery, centered on an ensemble cast of characters. The company that developed the games found on the site went bankrupt in 2003; the site remains online but has not been maintained since.

Netbabyworld AB
IndustryBrowser games
Founded1999
Defunct2003
Headquarters
Gothenburg
,
Sweden
Websitenetbabyworld.com

History

Netbabyworld was founded as a merge venture with the Swedish company PlayCom. Under its former title Game Design Sweden AB, PlayCom had developed Kula World for the PlayStation in the late 1990s. The website was launched in 1999 by Jes Rudberg, Jesper Kouthoofd and John Erikkson. It was ultimately a short lived venture, going bankrupt in 2003. The Playcom website stated that "In April 2003 PlayCom was acquired through a management buyout by the management team, as well as key employees from former Netbaby World." It was around this time that the community features were removed, and site updates ceased. Rudberg, Kouthoofd and Erikkson returned to freelancing product design and later founded Teenage Engineering.[1]

Games

Netbabyworld created around 20 games from 1999–2003, initially through Macromedia Shockwave, then later moving to their own proprietary PlayCom engine.

Reception

While the site enjoyed a great deal of popularity through this period, winning the 2002 Webby for best game site,[2] Netbaby's monetization model was unclear.

Legacy and influence

As of 2023, Netbabyworld.com is still online and serving Shockwave-based games. The games are largely non-functional, given that Shockwave Player was discontinued in 2019.[3] A former member of the team, Nick Sakellariou, released a mobile version of Ninja Girl in the late 2000s.[4]

References
  1. Tylevich, Katya (Summer 2013). "Stockholm". Elephant, Issue 15, p130-175. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  2. "2002 Webby nominees & Winners". Webby awards. Archived from the original on 2009-10-29.
  3. "End of Life (EOL) for Adobe Shockwave". helpx.adobe.com. Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  4. "Ninja Girl". Nick Sakellariou. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009.
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