Fans rally to save Disney MMO

Over 11,000 people have petitioned Disney in an effort to stop Virtual Magic Kingdom from being closed, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

But the Mickey Mouse-maker is sticking to its decision to turn off the servers supporting the MMO on 21st May.

Virtual Magic Kingdom gave children a way to virtually explore the Walt Disney theme parks, and was patrolled by paid staff keeping an eye on in-game behaviour.

It began as a way to celebrate 50 years of the famous theme parks, and apparently was never intended to last as long as it did.

"It exceeded our expectations in terms of performance to the point that we left it open much longer than originally anticipated," Disney told the Orange County Register.

"All good promotions must come to an end, so we have decided the time is right to close VMK. We plan to offer free online promotions that will continue to engage our parks and resorts guests in new and entertaining ways on the web."

Disney also ran special promotions at its theme parks to reward attendees with codes to unlock things like outfits and furniture online.

Disney also currently runs Pirates of the Caribbean Online, which is both free to download and play, although for full access you will need to shell out USD 9.95 a month.