Habbo Hotel returns in Origins, a "lovingly restored" version of the iconic MMO as it was 19 years ago - but this time "with a fresh, community-led approach"

Habbo Hotel Origins screenshot showing an open park area with a fountain and a parked white bus — (Image credit: Sulake)

Habbo Hotel Origins is arriving today with all of the original MMO's "simplicity, charm, and magic," marking the monumental return of one of the best retro games of all time.

Anyone who grew up in the 1990s or 2000s may recall a bustling virtual world called Habbo Hotel. The MMO featured various "rooms" in which players could hang out with one another and socialize, along with customizable guest rooms and user-hosted mini-games. It was truly the peak of computer-simulated social environments, rivaled only by similar chatroom-esque games like Gaia Online and the far less mature Club Penguin.

Sulake, the team behind the beloved MMO, says it's bringing the virtual world back to 2005 in Habbo Hotel Origins. Origins serves as a revamped version of the game as it was 19 long, long years ago, albeit this time "with a fresh, community-led approach." An article revealing the new (re-)release explains that the "simplicity, charm, and magic of that early version of Habbo" are things the dev now wants "to retain and protect." This time around, Sulake states it will "be careful about what we add, and when."

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"The InfoBus Park in Habbo Hotel Origins is being turned into a kind of democratic forum where we will ask important questions about the development and direction of Habbo," the dev continues, detailing how it intends to maintain its "community-led approach" in Origins. "You will be able to vote on these questions, and the outcome will be binding." Information regarding the first poll is set to go up sometime today as the game launches.

"The Habbo team is beyond excited to see everyone get into the game and experience 2005 all over again," concludes the dev - and I find myself smiling. If everything truly unfolds as Sulake says it will, this could just be the pixel-perfect throwback of a lifetime. After all, Origins is set to be a "lovingly restored" version of Habbo Hotel made up of "long-lost files." Now I just need Barbie Girls Rewritten to come out, too, and my inner child will feel complete.

Want something a bit more modern? Here are the best MMORPGs to play in 2024.

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After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.