In a piece following Club Penguin’s road to success, The Times Online has provided some insight on how the Disney-owned community managed to capture Britain’s ‘tween audience, attracting up to 750,000 kids into its arctic online world.

While being one of the first virtual worlds to provide a social community experience to children aged under 15 years has helped, as has localized content and features, The Times takes care to note Club Penguin’s “innovative” subscription-based business model which has enabled the service to continue without bombarding users with advertisements.

Users can elect to play the game for free, but with a £3.95 monthly subscription ($5.95 in the US), users have access to subscription-only benefits, including outfits and igloo furniture. Subscribers still have to complete tasks and earn in-game coins to purchase these items.

“This distinguishes the site from other virtual worlds aimed at kids which operate on the so-called 'micro-payment model', where all manner of virtual goods such as clothing can be bought for [a] small fee each, usually less than $1,” says Club Penguin co-founder Lane Merrifield. “We didn't want to create a system where the rich kids get the cool things and the poor kids don't.”