Hello Kitty Online was an MMORPG developed by Sanrio Digital and Typhoon Games, set in the universe of the cute cat and her friends. We at MeinMMO asked ourselves what happened to the game.
The Hello Kitty MMORPG launched on July 1, 2009 in Asia, followed shortly thereafter by Europe and America. It introduced its players to the colorful, cute world of the popular Hello Kitty franchise from Japan, for which numerous games have been released to date. However, Hello Kitty Online remained the only MMORPG in the Sanrio universe.
A relaxed MMORPG full of mini-games
In the MMORPG you could create a character and design it according to your wishes. Within the story you played a hero who had to wake Hello Kitty and her friends from a long slumber. Then it was about fighting a mysterious power together.
Battles were pretty minor in Hello Kitty Online, though. Instead of fighting, it offered its players more non-violent activities, such as mini-games and puzzles:
Here you can see the MMORPG trailer from 2010:
Hello Kitty MMORPG Trailer 2010
There were different maps to explore inspired by real places. Whoever encountered and defeated a monster had a chance of dropping a trading card. This allowed players to own up to 3 pets that offered them buffs or additional inventory space.
There was no PvP in Hello Kitty Online. However, you could compete in mini-games and try to beat each other’s high score.
For years, Hello Kitty Online had massive problems
Everything went well in Hello Kitty Online for the first 2 years. There was regular new content and even charity events raising money for real world problems. But suddenly Sanrio decided to stop supporting the MMORPG.
In 2012, Hello Kitty Online’s website was redirected directly to SanrioTown and the link to download the game was removed. In addition, players could no longer create new accounts. Anyone who had installed the MMORPG and had an account could still play – new players got nothing.
The game has not received any new content since 2012. “Some people think Sanrio focused on mobile games back then,” says YouTuber Supercat in a video.
In 2015, there was a hacker attack on Sanrio that leaked user data. Names, dates of birth, e-mail addresses and passwords from over 3 million accounts were passed on to strangers.
Hello Kitty Online was then completely discontinued in 2017 – although it had actually died 5 years earlier. Since then there hasn’t been an MMORPG based on Hello Kitty.
What do you think of Hello Kitty’s MMORPG? Did you play it yourself back then, or at least heard about it? Would you start it if it came out today? In general, do you like the idea of an MMORPG not focusing too much on violence, but more on the relaxed aspects? Write it to us in the comments here on MeinMMO!
If you want a cozy MMORPG, you can look forward to Palia:
Palia turns Animal Crossing into an MMO – Now reveals new details about gameplay and possible fights