A team of developers from dozens of countries ensured diversity while letting Miniclip craft experiences for all sorts of people.
Its focus on being nimble with respect to trends and staying away from topical politics (something that big companies tend to mess up on a royal scale) ensured that Miniclip didn’t falter as it grew from thousands of users to millions of fans. This spiraled Miniclip from the realm of obscurity into the spotlight. Hosting games on a virtual platform meant that multiplayer and competitive leaderboards were only a click away. Microtransactions meant that a good chunk of Miniclip’s games employed practices that would soon become commonplace in the free-to-play industry. Games on the platform often relied on a fun core gameplay loop over fancy graphics or realism. This also meant that popular games found an avenue to get even more players onboard.
While games had their fair share of bugs and more nefarious bits of software, a dedicated userbase ensured that only legitimate games found their way to the top of the leaderboards. Keeping Miniclip open to user-generated content meant that new games were published on the platform every week. Soon, Miniclip was a name that drove conversations, even ones about the latest and greatest in gaming. Utilizing Adobe Flash ensured that file sizes were low, letting gamers get in on the fun almost instantly. It did this with an approach that gave the internet its due as a unique medium. With zero marketing, Miniclip rose to a point where a Google search for “games” led you straight into the London-based virtual game library. Surprisingly, much of it was tailored to the casual gaming crowd. On a budget of £40,000, Miniclip soon became a safe haven for user-generated content. The similarity between their initial goal and social platforms like TikTok and YouTube is eerie, to say the least. The name is evidence enough that neither Small nor Presbie expected the site to go beyond video clips. All it took for the first “miniclip” was US President George Bush’s head superimposed onto Presbie’s body. Co-founders Rob Small and Tihan Presbie kickstarted the iconic site when the former recorded the latter dancing in a kitchen. Neither of Miniclip’s founders had a past based in programming. With over 200 million monthly active users across multiple platforms, Miniclip is an aging behemoth that still has its bag of tricks intact. All it takes for a healthy dose of nostalgia is one look at the site’s home page. To millions across the globe, Miniclip is a household name in the entertainment industry. But at Miniclip, accessibility was and still is the name of the game. Sure, they didn’t have cutting-edge graphics or mind-bending narratives. With thousands of games to choose from, it’s no secret that gamers of all ages were spoiled for choice. R emember the first time you entered Miniclip? It was no different from entering a library. Five choices that defined Miniclip’s success