Building the Classic Habbo

2007 · CLASSIC EVOLUTION By 2007, Habbo had already become a huge international community. The hotel was no longer simply about chatting and decorating rooms — players had developed their own games, economies, communities and traditions. Now Sulake was giving them even more tools to build those experiences themselves. One of the biggest additions arrived in January, when SnowStorm launched on the UK, US and Canadian hotels after appearing on several European hotels in late 2006. Players could enter snowy arenas, choose teams and battle one another with snowballs. It quickly became one of the defining games of classic Habbo, complete with leaderboards and gaming tickets. February brought an important development for the furniture economy: Exchange furniture was expanded, giving players a way to convert furniture into credit-value items that could be traded more conveniently. This helped make the relationship between furniture and Habbo's economy even more important. Then, in March, Habbo introduced Trax, Ecotron and Battle Ball 2 / Rebound. Trax was particularly memorable because it allowed players to create their own music inside their rooms using music discs and the Trax machine. Suddenly, rooms weren't just places to look at — players could give them their own soundtrack. Ecotron took the furniture experience in another direction. Players could recycle unwanted furniture and eventually receive a new item in return, introducing an early form of furniture recycling and giving old inventory a new purpose. 2007 also saw a major change behind the scenes. In April, Sulake acquired IRC-Galleria, Finland's leading social networking service at the time. The acquisition showed just how far Sulake had moved from its beginnings as a small virtual-world company. But the year also marked the end of one of Habbo's international experiments. In August, the Chinese hotel closed, becoming the first of Habbo's international communities to disappear. Players were redirected toward other Habbo communities, a reminder that expanding globally didn't mean every market would succeed. For furniture collectors, 2007 was also an interesting transition period. Habbo Club furniture received a new generation of monthly gifts, mixing older classics with new pieces. The Club Sofa, HC Plasto furniture, Mega TV, Teleports and other HC pieces had already become strongly associated with the identity of long-term players, while the newer gifts continued expanding the collection. By the end of 2007, the classic Habbo experience was becoming much more than a collection of rooms. Players could build, trade, compete, make music, recycle furniture and create their own entertainment. Habbo was increasingly giving its community the tools to create the experience themselves. And that is what makes 2007 such an important year in the history of Habbopix: the furniture wasn't simply something players owned anymore. It was becoming something they could use to create entire experiences.