Panfu
| Panfu - be a panda! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher |
 Goodbeans GmbH
|
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
December 2007 February 2008 February 2008 February 2008 February 2008 April 2008 July 2008 July 2008 July 2008 July 2008         |
| platform | On-line |
| genre | Massive multiplayer online game |
| Game mode | Multiplayer |
| control | Mouse , keyboard |
Panfu was a website with a virtual world for children between the ages of eight and twelve. Among other things, the offer should serve as a learning platform and convey media competence to its users . The players explored the islands of Panfu with a panda avatar . They could communicate with other players and solve various tasks.
Panfu was closed in September 2016 and the servers were finally shut down two months later.
description
Panfu is a made-up word made up of "panda" and the Chinese word for luck, "fu". After registering for free, each player could create his own avatar in the form of a panda bear , dress him up individually and give him a creative name. Then he was able to move freely with him within the game world, an island called "Panfu".
There were mini-games hidden within the Panfu world for single players that ended up on the highscore list. Depending on the number of points, you received so-called "panda coins" when you finished the game. A player with a paid premium account could use this for new furniture for the tree house or new clothes.
Panfu relied on learning unnoticed, supposedly similar to learning the mother tongue. For example, the German version tried to convey the English language using some English vocabulary. Other content, such as the game world's virtual newspaper, was available in two languages. Until 2009, the player was also encouraged every 15 minutes to pause the activity on the screen for a short break.
Security in Panfu
According to the developers, security was very important in Panfu . Therefore, a word filter should prevent verbal attacks from being uttered and warn players who did not obey the rules. According to the manufacturer, the chat was also monitored by moderators from 12 to 8 p.m.
Outside of this period, players could only communicate using the high security chat. This contained ready-made answers and questions suitable for the young players.
Development history
The game was developed by Moritz Hohl and Kay Kühne and published in December 2007 through their game software company Young Internet GmbH . Panfu was one of a growing number of virtual worlds that were specifically aimed at school children. The project received funding from Stefan von Holtzbrinck (via Holtzbrinck Ventures) and Lukasz Gadowski, among others .
In April 2012, Young Internet GmbH changed its name to Goodbeans GmbH and announced that it would concentrate more on smartphone and tablet applications with in-app payment in the future. The profits from Panfu should help finance this restructuring of the business model and make Panfu itself feasible for mobile devices. In November 2013, this new division was outsourced to a new company called Fox & Sheep , and Goodbeans itself re-focused on marketing Panfu . The founders wanted to stay with Goodbeans.
In September 2014, a Gründerszene news article described the activity of Goodbeans as "currently operating on the back burner". On December 8, 2014, the Panfu team announced that they would discontinue the chat function on January 1, 2015. Bankruptcy of the studio also followed. Ultimately, Panfu was closed due to a lack of investors, according to the former managing director Verena Pausder on Twitter .
Popularity of panfu
Just five months after opening, Panfu had over a million registrations. Since January 2009 the company has been profitable. In June 2009 the website had 10 million users worldwide, making it the largest online virtual game for children in Europe. At the beginning of 2010 there were 13 million users, 4.5 million of them in Germany. According to confirmed statements, Panfu generated income of 250,000 euros in return for monthly costs of 50,000 euros.
Journalistic articles pointed to the importance of security in virtual worlds for children and named the high security chat of Panfu as a special feature. The financing of the offer through advertising was criticized, which was described as questionable in the case of a product for children.
In academic literature, Panfu has been mentioned in connection with research on the potential of virtual worlds as a learning aid for children.
Private servers
The virtual world of Panfu lives on in private servers that are unofficially run by players. The Panfu server is simulated in order to continue to use its client (so-called re-engineering ). The most popular private server is Panfu.me, an imitation of Panfu that was launched in October 2016.
Web links
- German-language website of Panfu ( Memento from May 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (archived)
- Panfu's blog ( Memento from May 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (archived)
- Panfu.me
Individual evidence
- ↑ Children's games, educational games & children's chat for free - Panfu.de. May 20, 2016, archived from the original on May 20, 2016 ; accessed on February 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Sarah Mühlberger: Of course . In: Berliner Zeitung . ( berliner-zeitung.de [accessed on February 5, 2017]).
- ↑ re: publica GmbH: re: publica Reader 2013 - day 1 . epubli, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8442-5595-9 ( google.de [accessed on February 5, 2017]).
- ↑ Petra Grell, Winfried Marotzki, Heidi Schelhowe: New digital culture and educational spaces . Springer-Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-531-16958-3 ( google.de [accessed on February 5, 2017]).
- ↑ Cash injection for Panfu.de. In: deutsche-startups.de. July 8, 2008, accessed February 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Young Internet dares to turn around towards mobile . In: Gründerszene Magazin . ( gruenderszene.de [accessed on February 5, 2017]).
- ↑ Fox and Sheep is the new game startup from the Goodbeans makers . In: Gründerszene Magazin . ( gruenderszene.de [accessed on February 5, 2017]).
- ↑ Children's app developer Fox & Sheep takes over Russian competitors . In: Gründerszene Magazin . ( gruenderszene.de [accessed on February 5, 2017]).
- ↑ Toy company Haba takes over app developer Fox and Sheep. February 17, 2015, accessed December 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Verena Pausder: Verena Pausder on Twitter about the closure to Panfu. March 26, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017 .
- ↑ Sarah Mühlberger: Of course . In: Berliner Zeitung . ( berliner-zeitung.de [accessed on February 5, 2017]).
- ↑ Meedia: Panfu.de: The Goliath with the kids. October 17, 2013, archived from the original on October 17, 2013 ; accessed on February 5, 2017 .
- ↑ INTERNET WORLD Business: 13 million members . In: INTERNET WORLD Business . ( internetworld.de [accessed on February 5, 2017]).
- ↑ Young Internet dares to turn around towards mobile . In: Gründerszene Magazin . ( gruenderszene.de [accessed on February 5, 2017]).
- ↑ This is how parents keep track of things: - WORLD. Retrieved February 5, 2017 .
- ↑ Ruth Martínez López: Mundos virtuales 3D: Una guía para padres y formadores . Editorial UOC, 2011, ISBN 978-84-9788-348-1 ( google.de [accessed February 5, 2017]).