This interview has been minimally edited and condensed for clarity.
Reflections on the Last Year
JN: Last year, we started by asking you what your typical work week looked like. How has it changed in 2026 compared to 2025?
Dom: I think what's changed is that I've spent a lot more time in the past few months to focus on improving the internal team's communication, optimizing the workflows. The team has grown since three years ago and we're still a fully remote team. We're small, but we're globally distributed. With that growth comes its own challenges where we need to balance the culture and the differences of our team members' communication styles. And that has been one of my major focuses for the past few months. While we improve our workflow, we hope to achieve better efficiency and also reduce the time wasted on just, like, communication costs.
JN: What would you say is your biggest success in the last year?
Dom: I don't think it's a home run success, but it's good to start seeing we're making progress on the botting part of things. It has been a huge effort. To be honest, the effort has always been huge, but the first two years I would say we hadn't made that much progress, and I know it's a bit disappointing from what the community can see and feel. But I would say a lot of things happen in the back end, and the things we did in the past six months are exactly the things we identified three years ago, but we weren't able to get to it until we fixed a lot of the mess that's not seen from the outside.
And even for myself, I thought a lot of these are low-hanging fruits, thinking "we can easily check the box!" three years ago. I learned like, oh my god, everything becomes an overhaul of a system that we don't know, and that system is linked to another system. And then the spaghetti codes we've been talking about. I'm glad we finally overhauled a big part of it.
I learned like, oh my god, everything becomes an overhaul of a system that we don't know, and that system is linked to another system.
That's why we've been able to move in the direction that can now finally be witnessed by the community. We've started to have a more proper structure and proper guardrails in place. We've been successfully able to take down some of the off-site buyers and selling sites, taking more of these professional actions against these to really protect the integrity of the Neopets ecosystem. And I think those are finally seeing progress. As you may know, anything that's related to legal, it takes forever, and I can't comment on any of these, but we have been making progress.
JN: Any recent regrets or learnings from the past year?
Dom: I wouldn't say it's regrets, but I think definitely learnings.
We've been investing a lot more into building up the team culture. I think in the past there has been a kind of lifeline on putting the team together, a shared passion of how we want to revive Neopets that kept us together. And it's good that we're sharing milestones, and we've been able to get the milestones.
But apart from that common goal, we are trying to invest more into really bringing the teams together. The majority of the team is still in North America, but we don't really meet up as often as we want because it's sometimes quite cost-prohibitive to get that in-person meeting going on. So we've been starting to see cracks in the communication when you never really know who the person is across the Slack or across Zoom that you're working with. Sometimes it's hard to drive that synergy.
And in the past six months, we've been learning that at least having some regional meetups, encouraging the team to get together in person, either at a conference or at community events, we've been seeing that bonding is unmatched after they've met in person. A lot of these meetings are the first time certain team members met other team members in person. A lot of Neopets fans and players, they know the joy of meeting someone they might have met online. For the TNT team itself, meeting in person in real life is very magical too. And I think there's a great learning for myself, and we definitely want to do more of those in the future. We still haven't had a whole team off-site or a whole team get-together. Hopefully we can achieve that in the coming year.
Neopets Revenue + Costs
JN: From time to time, usually in a monthly newsletter, you hint at your progress towards profitability. In January, you said, "we are on track to break even by this summer." That's now! Have you broken even?
Dom: So, we have! We are planning to put it in our upcoming newsletter. It's a great milestone achieved by the team. We've been really reflecting on the journey in the past three years since the Renaissance started. And we were able to break even these past few months, which is a great milestone.
But we're still very cautious. We are trying to grow in ways that are different than before, like in licensing, in our partnerships. And also through that, investment into new business areas. We're also seeing that it has a very symbiotic relationship with driving lapsed users to come back to the game, which will be the sustainability that we're trying to strive for.
We were able to break even these past few months...but we're still very cautious. We are trying to grow in ways that are different than before.
So on one hand, we're breaking even, but on the other hand, we definitely are reinvesting every single dollar back into building up the brand and to drive more partnership. So we're in a much healthier shape now, and I think that this is definitely achieved because of the team's effort, and we're very proud of that. But we're also sitting down now, like looking, okay, now we've achieved this milestone which we've set for ourselves three years ago...what's next? We want to start defining how we can build a stronger foundation, not just for the classic Neopets site, but how we can extend Neopets for the 25 years to come.
JN: So you feel pretty comfortable you have a plan to keep it profitable?
Dom: Well definitely, of course, that's the number one survival rule. We'd have to keep it profitable so we can continue to build and fix and really bring all the joy we want back into Neopets.
JN: Where are you investing your money and time the most right now?
Dom: So I think time and effort wise, for the whole team, it's still majority on the classic site, but we have probably shifted a little now that we have a little bit more resources. I've been trying to position the team to better capture the opportunities that we could be striving for on the partnership side, on the merchandise side, and really build Neopets into an evergreen brand that can be multi-cross-generational, and hopefully transmedia as well.
The community is very excited about our first ever pop-up in New York City, so things like that. It takes months if not years of communicating and trying to pitch to different parties to get such an event together. But also it comes with its cost. So things like that have been like a new area where the team has been putting more efforts.
Neopets Brand Collaborations
JN: You've already brought up collaborations a couple of times. We've seen a lot of them lately. We've had Fortnite, Roblox, Highrise, Habbo, MLB Players Association, Gong cha, probably a half dozen others not coming to mind right now. How do you go about choosing who to partner with? Are you cold calling, or are you being cold called? Can you talk about how they come to be?
Dom: It's a mixture of different forms. To be honest, licensing as a business is completely new for the team, so we're learning along the way. Sometimes we want to be selective, but also because we're starting from basically zero, sometimes we can't be as selective as we want. Of course we all want the ultimate target of like, oh, we definitely want to relaunch a toy series with Burger King, with McDonald's, we want to partner with Coca-Cola, we want to partner with Starbucks. But how do we get there? How do we even get our merch inside Walmart, or get our merch inside Target?
So we just have to really do it step by step, and there's a lot of learning process, some trial and error, unfortunately. Who we partner with, there might be some missteps, but I think overall we're definitely on an upward trajectory. We've been partnered with bigger and bigger IPs, especially more recent wins. You mentioned Fortnite, I think being able to bring the Aisha sidekick into Fortnite is the launch of a hopefully more-to-come type of series. It's a great milestone. It definitely brings us back to the A-game, being among the top IPs who work with Fortnite and being relevant again.
So leveraging this kind of like step-up function, we definitely try to be like, "Okay, now we've done that, who else can we leverage that to open more doors with?" So yeah, definitely investing trying to do more of that.
But in terms of a selection, at the end of the day, we want to make sure we're staying true to the Neopets DNA. We want to work with people that care about the Neopets IP. Most of the time, regardless of whether it's inbound or we do the cold outreach, we always try to find an internal champion from the partners that we work with. They normally have someone that actually understands Neopets and played Neopets growing up. But of course the way they interpret it might be different than our existing core super fans who've been playing for 10, 15 years. They might have been more similar to myself, like played it for a good few years, had great childhood memories, still a very great supporter of this brand, but they might not understand all the nuances about the Neopets IP like our core community does. There's different interpretations and it's very interesting to see how we can drum up a lot of creative collaborations. I think with a brand like Neopets where there's so much breadth and depth in terms of lore, in terms of characters, it's actually really fun to be working on these because sky's the limit on the type of collaborations that we can be driving.
JN: Have you had to say no to anyone?
Dom: We've actually said no to quite a lot. Thank you for bringing that up! We do have rules that we don't want to cross, like being a family-friendly IP. For example, we have been approached by micro dramas. We've said no because it's heavily driven by AI content, and a lot of the content sometimes is kind of sloppy. I mean, all the AI dramas at the end are the same story plot, they just change the skins, and we don't really see any synergy in working with partners like that. I'm not saying all micro drama is bad, but the partner that approached us, we don't really see any creative value in that. So we've said no to partners like that, for example.
We want to make sure we're staying true to the Neopets DNA. We want to work with people that care about the Neopets IP.
So we've been very clear. We want to stay true to the Neopets DNA. We want to bring joy to the community or to the lapsed users. We want partnership to either help our community find more ways to enjoy Neopets, or to expand the storytelling of Neopets into different form factors. And one of the goals that we always have is: would that help us bring more lapsed back to the ecosystem? That's kind of what we've been trying to do with the whole revival of Neopets.
JN: So going back to an earlier question, it sounds like it's a mix of ways they start. Sometimes you are reaching out to partners, sometimes partners are reaching out to you, and it's just finding what fits. Is that a fair way to describe it?
Dom: I think that's fair. And sometimes it's trial and error. If we don't launch our product, we don't really know how the market reacts, and we don't know what new synergy brings us. A lot of times, in hindsight, we could have made decisions slightly differently, but also we're working at startup speed. We try to do as much as possible with the limited resources we have. So it's been fun, and it's been a lot of learning, I would say.
JN: How are these deals structured? In which way does money normally flow?
Dom: Yeah, I think that's something we haven't mentioned and there's some misunderstanding from the community as well. For most if not all, the money flow is more beneficial to us.
In a typical licensing agreement, as a brand owner, we get the first portion called a minimum guarantee from our licensee. It's kind of like a usage fee, and they can leverage our IP to create merchandise or create activations.
And then the second part is something that we call royalty. It's kind of like upside sharing. It's normally a percentage basis on either on revenue or on the wholesale price of how these merch are sold into the channels. So we kind of have those two components where we have a licensing agreement.
But for certain partnerships, it could be more like a brand collab, like just an activation on a social media level. Normally those might not have any monetary value exchange. But if it's a typical licensing agreement, then it's actually Neopets as a brand owner, we are definitely on the receiving end.
And that's why it's actually great for this whole revival. As I previously mentioned, this is like the basis of the second pillar of the strategy for reviving Neopets. So instead of us investing our own marketing dollars to acquire users or reactivate lapsed users, we're able to leverage the reach, the distribution network, and the power of our licensing partners to punch way above our weight to make this revival happen at a faster pace.
JN: How are you judging the success of these collaborations? Are you doing a traditional cost-benefit analysis, or do you accept it as a loss leader, or some other analysis?
Dom: I think most of them, we do use a traditional cost-benefit analysis or return-on-investment model. For certain activations, it's definitely a loss leader. For example, even activation at SDCC, if you count all the costs to have a booth at SDCC, we might be able to cover part of it with our merch sales, but it's actually still a very expensive show to attend. So things like this, we definitely treat as a loss leader, but it's a very important one because we do a lot of community activations. And this year we're able to be in Hall A, right next to Nintendo and Pokémon, and near our licensees like Upper Deck, Monogram International, WYP. Apart from user acquisition or reactivation, it's also a great way for us to continue the relationship with our licensees and build a rapport. So definitely these are more loss leaders for us, but these loss leaders are what drives the licensing relationship where we can attract more licensees to partner with us. And as discussed earlier, these will become great revenue channels for us that we're building up.
JN: Have you been able to measure or attribute that certain partnerships have been really successful in bringing users back?
Dom: So I think the Gong cha campaign being the first nationwide campaign that can spread the joy has been a quite monumental success. When we do smaller partnerships or pop-ups or campaigns in the past, we always get communities from other places that say, "Oh, you need to come here, you need to go there!" But sometimes as a small team like ours, it's hard for us to plan that many activations. So being able to work with Gong cha to have a nationwide presence, it's a great way for us to spread that and leverage their distribution network to help us achieve that goal. If we were to do it ourselves, it's almost impossible, but now we can leverage that.
And the collab we did with them, the keychain plushie, it was sold out within a week or two. It was a hit, not only because our fans loved it, but as a valued partner for Gong cha, we also helped generate foot traffic and sales for them, and they're very happy. It was a win-win partnership for both of us, and that's why we are exploring our future partnerships, and I think we're both very satisfied with a partnership like that.
Neopets Game Developments
JN: With The Void Within ending, at Jellyneo we've felt like TNT's been a lot more productive in other ways recently. Would you say that's an accurate perception?
Dom: Yeah, I think in my previous newsletter, we discussed about how the plot was a lot, much bigger than we originally thought. So we did probably tie our hands a bit too much, and scope creep definitely happened as well, and we all know it dragged on for longer than expected. I guess it's part of the trial and error. We don't know what the team can take on until we push to the limit.
From a community standpoint, we might have missed certain expectations. But I think it's great that we've challenged ourselves to take on this plot. And I think that at the end of the day, we've achieved something that a few years ago, if you had asked the team, no one would believe that we could have achieved. We overcame a lot of hurdles to get to this point. So to your question, we did free up a lot of resources after wrapping up the plot, and we've been able to make more progress.
We've achieved something [with The Void Within] that a few years ago, if you had asked the team, no one would believe that we could have achieved.
But I would say a lot of this progress is only possible because for the past two years, we've been cleaning up a lot of the backend database, a lot of things that's not known to the community. We only just started Dockerizing everything, we only moved to Git a few months ago. We're just catching up in terms of tech infrastructure. So it's good that we're starting to have that cadence. So, I would say it's not just because we free up resources from the plot, it's because we're finally at the tipping point where we don't have to deal with all these legacy infrastructures as much as before. It's a release of tech engineering resources from that end.
JN: So the end of the plot is more of a coincidence, you think? You think you're finally getting to a point where you're getting—
Dom: —yeah, both happened together. The recent two months, there has been more page conversions. There has been a lot more frequent updates and events.
JN: You have two standalone mobile apps now, Tales of Dacardia and Faerie Fragments. You also have the Companion App. How are mobile apps fitting into your strategy for the brand's direction?
Dom: Yeah, so among the three that you mentioned, the Companion App is where we're investing a little bit more, in the sense that we believe the Companion App is the window for us to bring certain core game loops of Neopets and some of the daily engagement of Neopets into a native mobile experience. What we hope we ultimately can achieve is, as a standalone app, it will be the go-to platform for getting our lapsed users to come back, and they have a way to enjoy Neopets in a more clean and easily navigable way, in a modernized mobile experience.
Because what we realized is a lot of lapsed users, they come back for a nostalgic dose, but getting back into the classic site is still quite a journey. It's not the easiest. There's a lot to navigate, and without the help of Jellyneo and all the fan sites out there, it's almost impossible. "Where should I click? What should I do?" The whole navigation is quite a mess, especially for people who haven't played for five years, ten years. They might have already forgot about where to click and lost all their bookmarks. So that's kind of the vision of the Companion App, to really use it as a standalone app for driving the reactivation of the longer-term lapsed users.
JN: There's still a lot of cries for Key Quest and Habitarium. Any plans for either of those?
Dom: So for Habitarium first, we have been in touch with the fans, who you may have seen, that are trying to rebuild it. We are trying to see what could work. On one hand, these fans have proven that Habitarium could be brought back. So that's great. But on the other hand, we want to make sure if we were to bring it back, what should be the format? Should it actually be part of the classic site, or should it be a side experience that's completely isolated?
There are things that we need to consider. If it's actually part of the classic site, then how can we avoid that Habitarium is like a huge Neopoint inflation machine. If we don't do it well, then we'll be bringing back inflation, which we haven't even really solved to begin with. If we're bringing back more trouble to the classic game, it would be much harder for the game balance to work. So things like that, we really need to be careful and make sure we go at it with the right design. But I would say that we are making progress on the Habitarium front.
We really need to be careful and make sure we go at it with the right design. But I would say that we are making progress.
Key Quest, on the other hand, it's more challenging. There are also fans that are helping us, that we are in touch with. We are seeing what can be leveraged. I think that's still a much earlier stage in terms of completeness and fit with the current plan of reviving Neopets. And I know Key Quest is very beloved by a lot of the community, but we want to bring it back in a way that's sustainable. Instead of just like, oh, launch it, get some people excited, but it's not really an integral experience, and then it becomes like a bubble experience. That's not what we want to achieve. So, I'll say early discussions are definitely happening, but I can't really commit to when things will become accessible by the community.
JN: How about tabletop RPGs? Is there still a future for a Neopets one?
Dom: I definitely think so. Despite the recent hurdles, we do know that the tabletop RPG is a genre, an experience that our fans would love. And strategically, it's a very important category for us to get into because it's a great way to activate, I don't know, maybe at least like 10% of our lapsed users who might not be interested in coming back to the classic site. They still love Neopets and we can expand that storytelling into a tabletop RPG. That would be a great way to reactivate those fans and those lapsed users. So we do want to continue to explore. We haven't had that many conversations yet since we just recently wrapped up the previous TTRPG project. But I would say we're very hopeful that we'll eventually bring something back.
JN: Are you in touch with Geekify? Have you given them any expectations for how to wrap it up?
Dom: We are in touch, it's very professional, but I can't really comment on that.
Concluding Thoughts
JN: What's on the horizon for Neopets in the next year? What's your focus?
Dom: Well, I think right after SDCC, the main focus is definitely the New York City pop-up. I encourage anyone who's around the area to come show up and support! It's our team's probably biggest activation, well, probably in the past decade. And so it's very exciting. I personally am spending a lot of time to make sure that we can make that happen.
Apart from that, I would say we're definitely driving a lot of the licensing discussions. These discussions take at least 12 to 18 months for most of these to go to fruition. So we've been in a lot of these discussions in the past year, so hopefully more and more projects will be launched in the coming year. I can't talk too much about it now, but I really want to announce more once we're able to. There will be a lot of exciting partnerships coming up. And that's where it's definitely very exciting to learn about that.
And I think we're at the point where we're moving faster. We're bringing back more content. So I'm also very excited on the amount of things that we can fix on the classic site, really streamlining the experience. And we really want to make the returning journey a lot smoother so that it's easier for lapsed users to come back. I think that will be a major focus. But the returning journey redesign actually kind of touches on all essential gameplay and game design, which should be the first thing they do after coming back. Should they see more of their pets first, and their pets are already starving, or might still be in the NeoLodge? What should they do? And things like that.
JN: Is there anything else you'd want to share?
Dom: I think this has been great. We've covered a lot of ground!
I do want to be building more in public and I know we've been teasing about whether we should bring back AMAs or should we do more updates like the newsletter that we do. We're still trying to find the best format, but we're very committed to being transparent to the community. We want to be accountable and take ownership of what we're building and we've been encouraging the team to do so as well. So I hope that it's been evident to the community as well.
We're trying to streamline a lot of the communications that we're doing. I know there has been back and forth. There's so many different ways of getting information about Neopets and we want to streamline that now, and that can help us to achieve that transparency that we want with the community. And also we're continuing our Community Ambassador program. We recently launched a polling feature in NeoPass that's a way for us to get more feedback. We can move faster to leverage that feedback in the design and building up and bringing back of different things into Neopets. Getting the community involved is part of that common journey that I'm personally very excited about.
JN: Thank you, Dom!
Dom: Thank you!
