The End of an Era

2009 · TRANSITION 2009 began with Habbo still looking and feeling very much like the classic Hotel that players had known throughout the 2000s. But during the year, one of the biggest technical changes in Habbo's history began: the move from Shockwave to Flash. The year was already bringing change before the new client arrived. Habbo Russia closed in February, followed by Habbo Japan in April, as Sulake began dealing with hotels that were struggling to attract enough users. These closures were an early sign that the rapid international expansion of the previous years wasn't going to last forever. Then, in May 2009, Habbo Beta was announced. The new version replaced the old Shockwave technology with Adobe Flash, while also abandoning the fixed-size popup that had been part of Habbo's interface for years. Selected players were invited to test the new hotel, report bugs and provide feedback. Official Fansite owners were among the groups given early access, making the beta an important moment for the wider Habbo community as well. The Beta wasn't immediately forced on everyone. For several months, players could switch between the Old Habbo client and the new Beta. On July 15, the Beta became available to the public, allowing a much larger part of the community to experience the new interface. The new version looked cleaner and more modern, but to many veteran players it also represented a dramatic departure from the Habbo they had known since the early 2000s. Meanwhile, furniture was continuing to evolve. The new Automobile range appeared in March as Pixel furniture, with items such as traffic lights, road signs, bumper tyres and roads. Pixels were becoming an important part of the furniture ecosystem after their introduction in 2008, while special Pixel collectibles such as The Asteroid, Planet of Love and Planet of Eternity gave players new reasons to spend their accumulated Pixels. The year also brought some wonderfully strange furniture campaigns. The Lost City collection ran through the first half of the year, followed by science-fiction-themed collectibles and campaigns during the summer. Later came the Ghostly Organ, which became the final item in the original Collectibles series. And then came one of the biggest changes to Habbo's furniture economy: the Marketplace arrived in December on the UK hotel. Instead of relying entirely on player-to-player trading or fansites to track values, players could now buy and sell certain furniture through an integrated marketplace. It was an important step toward the more structured economy that would develop in the following years. The community was still thriving despite all these changes. Habbo Big Brother returned, attracting more than 30,000 applications, while campaigns such as Habprentice, Habbo Raceway and Yukka Tree Hill gave players new ways to compete and create rooms together. Fansites continued to document the Hotel and its constantly changing furniture and events. By November 2009, the transition was essentially complete. Habbo announced that the old client would be removed, and on November 4, the classic Shockwave version was officially retired in favour of the new Beta/Flash client. For veteran players, this was a huge dividing line. Before 2009, Habbo had been defined by its small Shockwave window, chunky classic interface and the furniture culture that had grown around it. After 2009, Habbo was entering a newer, cleaner and more modern era. The pixels were still there — but Old Habbo was gone.