Check out the Unseen Original 3D Art!
Back in 2003, in our earliest days of development, Webkinz World looked very different.
Initially, Webkinz was brought to life with rendered 3D designs. Our pets and characters were planned to be rendered 3D as well, but we quickly realized that this direction wasn’t working.
For example, take a look at this rendering of the original bedroom:
Early versions of the bedroom didn’t offer many customization options, and items were just added like stickers. Our early testers made it clear that they wanted more control over their home.
Plus, check out this rendering of the original Adoption Center:
These early designs lacked the warmth we wanted and were large files that took too long to display. The lack of Ms. Birdy made the center seem empty and lifeless.
In the end, our team scrapped months of work and made massive changes in order to transform Webkinz into the colorful and dynamic world of play that you can still enjoy today.
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Wow! What a different Webkinz World it would have been! Thank you for sharing the early designs with us.
I love classic so much. Please don’t top playing this game. I started 1/2 way thru the 1st year with the spotted frog. My grandaughter told me about this from and your game that she loved so much. So I tried it and we played together. It was so much fun. Of course I’m still playing and she is long gone-moved to old people games. lol I would love Webkinz classic look like that but I know it can’t, I am too invested in classic and just simple love it even tho it is not as pretty. If you get stopped building the Webkinz Next, please just add more features to Classic. Thank you for all you do and I’m sorry I’m babbling.
The adoption center looks so lonely and creepy in the original design.
The difference between the initial design and the final outcome is amazing!
The difference is actually insane. I hate to think that you guys scrapped months of work, but I am so glad you did and decided to take the game design in a completely different direction! Thank you for sharing this piece of webkinz history with us!
Thank you for sharing the early development of Webkinz! I find it so fascinating and would love to learn more! What program was used back then to create the 3D models? It’s quite advanced and seems like a bit of a foreshadow to what has become Webkinz Next! So cool!
Thank You Past and Present Webkinz Family. You have made many kids very happy and I guess parents happy too. Your creation will live on for generations to come (I Hope). Both Classic and Next are my go to. My Escape Paradise after school and dance for so many years. Thank You!
Oh wow! Really cool to see. I much prefer the adoption center we have now, as well as how to do our rooms and such!
Wow!! Love the History and behind the scenes information!!!
wow these old renderings are so cool to see! thank you for including them!!