Dominic Law: Reviving Neopets, Nostalgia Economics & How Community Keeps Games Alive – E637
episode
BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech: Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand & Malaysia Startups, Founders & Venture Capital VC (English)
43 min
1 speaker
8 chapters
transcribed 18 days ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
How did Dominic first discover Neopets and decide it was worth reviving?
core community that continues to play it is actually what kept Neo Pets alive. And although the lack of strategy, the lack of management in the past many years have led to the kind of a gradual downfall, there has been successful revival of IPs in many places. Disney reshaped the Marvel universe or now Star Wars is transgenerational from original episodes to now young fans are collecting collectibles. So it's let's have like IP is a very fun space when there's good storytelling, when there are cute characters, when there's like a worldview, a lore, and that type of emotional immersiveness. That's it. Well.
That leads to the potential of having a I would say like a evergreen trans media transgenerational IP.
Welcome to Brave. Learn from Southeast Asia's best tech leaders. Build the future, learn from our past, and stay human in between. No BS on Success. I'm Jeremy O, Venture Capitalist, Sarah founder, Harvard MBA, science fiction nerd, and dad of two daughters. Every week, we debate startup news, interview change makers, answer listener questions, and share personal insights. Join our movement of over 40,000 members and get transcripts, resources, and community at www.bravesa.com. Stay well and stay brave. Hey Dominic, I'm so excited to have you on the show. Wow, neopets. What a blast from the past. So glad to be here, Jeremy. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I'm excited because you're building the future of neopets.
I have to say, I used to have a neopets called a Lenny. And my wife also had a neopad called a Chia. Time flies.
Yeah, time flies. I played Neopets growing up as well. My first Neopets was a Shoru. A blue Shoru and still my favorite now.
Yeah, and I think such exciting times, but could you tell about us yourself?
Yeah, sure. So I started playing Neopetest when I was twelve and I played for a good few years and it's actually the game that I used to connect with my childhood friends in Canada because I moved back from Canada to Hong Kong when I was nine. And then one summer I visited them and then they're all playing this game called Neopetz and it's oh what is this? And then so Neopest is a big part of my childhood during those days. Like MySpace, Facebook, is the game that I used to learn about the internet. And it made me a cool kid in town. Because I played Neop before a lot of my peers and friends did. They eventually caught up with the phenomenon maybe a year or a year and a half later. So by then I've accumulated my wealth inside the game.
I have like more pets, I have more collections. So that made me pretty cool. Because I'm ahead of the industry curve and ahead of the curve adopting what's trendy. That was a big part of my childhood. But like most Asians, by the time like middle school comes, I need to focus on studies and exams, preparing for public exams. So I did definitely did way less like online gaming. And then eventually I didn't even know that Neopets actually still existed. Five years ago, I joined a gaming company called Neck Dragon. Before during the interview process, I realized that they own Neopets, which they acquired a few years ago. And I was like, whoa, that's amazing. And then I check it out, it's still alive and kicking.
Of course, things still actually look exactly. The same where I left off, that definitely rings a bell and intrigued my interest. When I joined mainly about helping them to restructure the overseas business, we we spun off a lot of the education asset that they have. We did a separate listing. And Neo is a unique asset. It's like that's hidden in plain sight. What should we do with it? And then we came up with the idea that we should definitely spin it off as an independent indie studio. Focus on its revival instead of being part of the newly spun-off education entity nor staying behind with NetDragon as most of the overseas have been divested at that time. So we proposed a management buy-out, a spin-off of this IP.
Luckily, we got the blessing of Neck Dragon letting us take this leap of faith. That's how I started the whole revival journey of Neopets two years ago, and it's been a great
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Dominic first discover Neopets and decide it was worth reviving?
0:00–5:56
2
What role did the long‑standing fan community play in keeping Neopets alive?
5:56–10:55
3
Why did missing the mobile shift hurt Neopets’ growth and how is that being addressed?
10:55–16:20
4
How does the core gameplay of collecting, trading, and customization drive Neopets’ appeal?
16:20–21:02
5
What strategies are being used to turn Neopets into a safe, family‑friendly experience?
21:02–26:24
6
How did transparency and realistic roadmaps help rebuild trust with the community?
26:24–31:56
7
What was the reasoning behind the high‑risk spin‑out and how was it negotiated?
31:56–37:24
8
How are new platforms, merchandise, and partnerships expanding Neopets for future generations?
37:24–42:59
Speakers
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